Getty ImagesKochi: The fish,meat and vegetables e-commerce firm freshtohome.com is hoping to double its turnover to Rs 300 crore in the current year encouraged by the new round of funding to the tune of Rs 80 crore and expansion of footprint to more places.
The funding led by UAE-based CE Ventures with participation of Das Capital, Kortschak Investments, TECER Partners and other Asia and Silicon Valley based investors is the biggest amount received by the company so far. "With this our total funding stands at Rs 95 crore," said Shan Kadavil, CEO of the company.
The company recently started operations in Dubai, Mumbai and Pune besides its presence in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi/NCR regions. "There has been overwhelming response from Dubai and we are finding it hard to meet," Kadavil said.
Freshtohome has 5 lakh customers and supplies 9000 tonnes a year with 8000 orders a day. Kerala accounts for 20% of its turnover of Rs 150 crore. "Kerala is our fastest growing market. Apart from Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur we have launched operations in Kozhikode. We hope to spread to more cities in the next few years," said Mathew Joseph, COO of the company.
The company will use the funds to strengthen its sourcing supply chain by extending its technology app, which is awaiting a US patent, to more fisherman and farmers across the country. Freshtohome uses the app to bid for fish with 1500 fishermen across different states to eliminate middlemen to cut cost.
"Fish is a $50 billion market and we account for only small share at present," Joseph said. Almost 70 to 80% of its sales are fish which are procured from fishermen directly. For poultry it depends on contract farmers. The company stresses on supplying fresh products without chemicals, pesticide residue or antibiotics.
The funding led by UAE-based CE Ventures with participation of Das Capital, Kortschak Investments, TECER Partners and other Asia and Silicon Valley based investors is the biggest amount received by the company so far. "With this our total funding stands at Rs 95 crore," said Shan Kadavil, CEO of the company.
The company recently started operations in Dubai, Mumbai and Pune besides its presence in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi/NCR regions. "There has been overwhelming response from Dubai and we are finding it hard to meet," Kadavil said.
Freshtohome has 5 lakh customers and supplies 9000 tonnes a year with 8000 orders a day. Kerala accounts for 20% of its turnover of Rs 150 crore. "Kerala is our fastest growing market. Apart from Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur we have launched operations in Kozhikode. We hope to spread to more cities in the next few years," said Mathew Joseph, COO of the company.
The company will use the funds to strengthen its sourcing supply chain by extending its technology app, which is awaiting a US patent, to more fisherman and farmers across the country. Freshtohome uses the app to bid for fish with 1500 fishermen across different states to eliminate middlemen to cut cost.
"Fish is a $50 billion market and we account for only small share at present," Joseph said. Almost 70 to 80% of its sales are fish which are procured from fishermen directly. For poultry it depends on contract farmers. The company stresses on supplying fresh products without chemicals, pesticide residue or antibiotics.
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