FreshToHome, the Indian e-commerce company for fresh fish and meat, will invest AED50 million ($13.6 million) for its operations in UAE and Saudi Arabia over the next two years.
The Bengaluru-based company, which has launched its operations in the UAE market – its first foray into the international market – will expand into the Saudi Arabia in the next 6 months.
Dammam and Riyadh are among the cities in Saudi Arabia which the company is zeroing on for its entry into the kingdom.
“We have officially announced our launch in UAE on Tuesday, after soft launching our products in that market for last 4 months. We plan to enter the Saudi market in another 6 months,” Mathew Joseph, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of FreshToHome, told Arabian Business.
“We have a food processing and storage facility in Umm Al Quwain, which will cater to our customers in UAE. Depending on the demand growth, we may set up one more processing and storage facility in UAE,” he added.
Joseph said the company’s UAE operations has about 250 employees currently, which may go up to 1,000 over the next 1-2 years once operations start in Saudi Arabia and UAE operations expand.
“We already have reached 1,000 orders per day in UAE just from expat Indian customers. We expect it to grow minimum 5-fold over the next few months once we add customers from other nationalities staying in UAE,” Joseph said.
FreshToHome, which is said to be the world’s first online platform for fresh marine and meat products, is also currently in talks with some of the investors and funds based in UAE and also in the US and Europe for its next round of fund raising.
The company expects to raise the next round of fund raising – B series funding – at a valuation of $215 million. The company was valued at $115 million in its last round of fund raising.
“We are in various stages of discussions with some of the prospective investors – including Venture Capital (VC) funds – based in UAE as well as the US and Europe, and expect to lauch the next round of funding in late this year or early next year, Joseph said.
Sharjah-based Crescent Enterprises and Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Emirati businessman and head of the Al Ghurair group, are among the current angel investors in FreshToHome.
FreshToHome, which shot into fame with its claim of selling chemical-free fish and antibiotic-free chicken, was originally founded by Mathew Joseph in 2011. It currently has operations in leading Indian cities such as Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvanthapuram and Kozhikode, catering to about 45,000 orders per day.
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