Captain Fresh, a B2B animal protein marketplace, has risen $50M in a Series C funding round. The participation was made by existing investors Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global.

The existing investors named Accel India, Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, and Incubate Fund also took a step ahead in the participation. This was the company’s third investment in the year, the latest investment held in December 2021.

The company was founded in 2019 as a seafood marketplace by Utham Gowda. Captain Fresh is a farm-to-retail platform for animal protein, the animals including fish, seafood, and sheep. Its major motive is to aggregate the retail demand across the country and link it to agents/farmers over the country. It is a tech-enabled distribution network that is spread over 20 Indian cities along with 2,500 retail businesses. 

EXECUTIVE OPINION:

As far as new investments are concerned, Utham Gowda, CEO, and Founder, said, “We have made significant strides in the last 12 months and believe we have the foundation in place to keep up with our hyper-growth trajectory. We are further deepening our role on the supply side by leveraging our understanding of supply communities in India and transforming it into a digital platform with a focus on content, community and commerce for fishermen, agents and farmers."

"This would be our market-entry beachhead as we look to foray into Africa, Middle East and other parts of Asia, led by our proprietary distribution and fulfillment engines,” he added.

Ashutosh Sharma, Head of Investments, India, Prosus Ventures, said, “We invested behind the platform potential of Captain Fresh and are pleased with the rapid strides they have made on this front. On the supply side, from a seafood marketplace, they are now entering into the larger animal protein industry. On the demand side as well, they have expanded their focus by adding new export markets. All this is enabled by the same underlying tech infrastructure highlighting the platform potential. Captain Fresh continues to execute very well and at a rapid pace. We are delighted to support their mission and partner in their growth.”

John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global, said, “We are thrilled by the growth demonstrated by Captain Fresh over the last 12 months. We are excited to double down and deepen our partnership as the Company looks to go global.”