Amazon led a $104 million investment in Indian meat startup FreshToHome

Emmanuel Oyedeji -

Amazon has led a $104 million Series D financing round in Indian online meat delivery startup FreshToHome. This new round takes FreshToHome’s all-time funding to over $250 million.

Launched in 2015, Bengaluru-headquartered FreshToHome is an online meat delivery startup that aims at revolutionalizing the sourcing infrastructure of meat and fish that has largely been run on an age-old system. The startup focuses on improving the quality of the produce and their delivery time by using its own rigorous processing plants and vast supply chain network.

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According to co-founder and chief executive Shan Kadavil, FreshToHome serves over 4,000 fishers and farmers and millions of customers in over 160 cities in India and the UAE and offers more than 2,000 certified fresh and chemical-free products. The startup has expanded its presence by over 100% in the past year, launching in about 100 cities over the last 12-18 months.

This investment by Amazon comes at a time when the e-commerce giant has retreated from many business lines in India as it reels from the global market conditions. An investment in FreshToHome could be Amazon’s way to fight for a slice of the $100 billion Indian fish and meat market through the startup for the time being.

The company plans to use the funds to enter more markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, starting with Saudi Arabia, and also open more offline stores, cofounder Shan Kadavil told ET.

The round was led through its India-focused e-commerce major's Smbhav Venture Fund – with a $250 million cap, marking the largest investment made by the Venture Fund so far. It had previously invested in content-to-commerce platform Good Glamm Group, and Cashify, a seller of used phones and other gadgets, among others.

Other participating investors include the government of Dubai through its investment corporation, Iron Pillar, Investcorp, Ascent Capital and other existing investors. New investors include E20 Investment Ltd, Mountshan Judi Ventures and Dallah Albaraka.