B2B seafood and meat marketplace Captain Fresh announced it has raised $50 million in Series C funding round led by existing investors Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global, according to ETtech report.
Accel India, Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, and Incubate Fund also participated in the round.
The company’s valuation has more than doubled to $500 million following the funding round, Utham Gowda, co-founder and CEO of Captain Fresh, said.
A strategic investor is expected to chip in an additional $10 million, a source said. Gowda did not, however, name the investor. The fresh funds will be primarily used for acquisitions, he said.
“We are looking at various assets which are critical in the global supply chain,” he said. “We are shoring up capital for that purpose. These are mostly distribution focussed assets.”
Founded in 2019, Captain Fresh is a seafood marketplace focusing on aggregating the fragmented retail demand across the country and linking it to small fishermen and farmers. The company raised $40 million in December 2021, also led by Tiger Global and Prosus Ventures.
“What we were doing in December and what we are doing in March is fundamentally a doubling of business. Whatever we committed we are over-delivering,” said Gowda. Since its previous funding round, the company has not only increased its B2B customers from 1,000 to 2,500, but also expanded its product line to include meat beyond seafood, like red meat.
“On the supply side, from a seafood marketplace, they are now entering into the larger animal protein industry,” said Ashutosh Sharma, head of investments, India, at Prosus Ventures. “On the demand side as well, they have expanded their focus by adding new export markets.”
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