Seafood marketplace Captain Fresh raises $40 mn in a funding round

Its reseller segment (B2B2C) has demonstrated an increase of 20x within just three months of launch, retailing about 1.2 million kgs of fish and seafood every month.

Captain Fresh, an online seafood marketplace, has raised $40 million in an investment round co-led by Tiger Global and Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures).

Existing investors Matrix Partners India, Accel India, Ankur Capital, and Incubate Fund have also participated in the Series B round.

Captain Fresh helps small fishermen and farmers by aggregating countrywide retail demand on its platform. The company said it would use the funding to build a real-time trading marketplace, AI for pricing and quality standardisation and applying robotic automation to move volumes with precision. Captain Fresh will also utilise the funds towards expanding its team and distribution network across geographies.

"For centuries, the fish and seafood industry has stayed the same with very little innovation and we have a unique opportunity to revolutionize the sector utilising technology,” said Utham Gowda, chief executive officer and founder, Captain Fresh.

Captain Fresh said it has rapidly emerged as a preferred monetization partner for supplier communities across the Indian coast. Its tech-enabled distribution network that spans 20 cities and more than 2,000 retail businesses.

Captain Fresh has demonstrated six-fold growth in 12 months and is transforming retail across B2R, B2B and B2B2C segments. Its reseller segment (B2B2C) has demonstrated an increase of 20x within just three months of launch, retailing about 1.2M kgs of fish and seafood every month. Its positive unit economics, coupled with industry-leading gross margins, high frequency and rapid expansion make it the leading fish & seafood marketplace in India.

“The team has demonstrated impressive execution and strong unit economics,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Head of Investments, India, Prosus Ventures. “We are confident about their ability to utilise technology to solve for efficiency and scalability challenges and at the same time make a very positive impact on a large number of fishermen in the country.”

Barath Shankar Subramanian, Partner at Accel, said that Captain Fresh has exhibited an impressive growth with positive unit economics.

"Captain Fresh has experienced exponential growth over the last 12 months and this fundraise is a testament to their supply first tech-enabled business model that has helped them scale rapidly while improving economics by optimising for losses and dump in the seafood supply chain," said Sudipto Sannigrahi, Principal, Matrix India.

Elluminate Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Captain Fresh on this transaction. The global fish and seafood demand is estimated at $400 billion.