INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
FreshToHome, a Bangalore-based e-commerce startup that sells fresh vegetable, fish, chicken and other kinds of meat, has raised $20 million
in a new financing round as it looks to expand its footprint in the nation.The Series B round for the startup was led by Iron Pillar, with
It says it does not add any preservatives or other chemicals to prolong the life of the produce
(Typical meat sold by a retail store is riddled with chemicals and could be months old.)Unlike most other marketplaces, FreshToHome has
built its own supply chain network, which gives it better control over quality and delivery of the food items
It uses trains and planes to move inventory, and has become one of the biggest clients of several local airlines.The startup sources
vegetables and fish directly from 1,500 fishermen and farmers across the nation
It uses an app to negotiate with farmers and fishermen.It continues to expand its control over all aspects of its business
TechCrunch in an interview.FreshToHome is able to deliver the perishables on the same day and as soon as up to two hours, Kadavil said.The
startup also began operations in UAE recently and has opened physical stores in Bangalore and Chennai.FreshToHome has amassed 650,000
remains largely unstructured in the nation
Every day it receives 14,000 orders, and processes 20 tons of fresh food.It recently crossed $30 million in annualized direct to consumer
sales, which makes it the largest e-commerce platform serving this category
It is seeing 30% month-to-month growth, said Kadavil, who has previously managed tech support for Support, and India operations for gaming
firm Zynga.And that growth has helped the startup attract some attention
Several major players in the nation, including Amazon India that recently expanded to include perishable category and Flipkart, have held
talks with FreshToHome to acquire some stake in the startup, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.And there is a big
The cold-chain market of India is estimated to grow to $37 billion in next five years.In addition to directly procuring its supplies from
farmers and fishermen, FreshToHome also serves as a micro-VC, giving them access to some money upfront and resources to produce more from
It also gives them an assurance that it will buy back their produce.Kadavil founded FreshToHome with Mathew Joseph, a veteran in the
industry who has dealt with fish export for more than 30 years
its network of contract farmers, and add 200 to 300 tons of additional produce each month.In a prepared statement, Anand Prasanna, managing
By smartly using big data and machine learning, they have created a sustainable supply chain, which offers a fair price to consumers,
