FreshtoHome plans for sustainability and food security in the Middle East and India
FreshToHome recently raised India’s largest Series C investment in consumer tech of $121M, from its prestigious investors including Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Investcorp, Ascent Capital, the Allana Group and Iron Pillar, the lead investor from FreshtoHome’s Series B raise. In addition, the company will receive financial and non-financial incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to develop cutting-edge projects in Abu Dhabi with the intent to boost the emirate’s Agriculture Technology (AgTech) capabilities. So, what does this mean in terms of expansion?
According to Shan Kadavil, CEO and Co-Founder of FreshToHome, “We are investing more broadly in UAE and GCC. We are today the largest in the fish and meat space in UAE and among the top five e-grocery firms in UAE. With this round of funding, we are looking to increase our footprint in e-grocery more broadly to other categories outside fish and meat such as fruits and vegetables and other fresh products, all subscribing to the core value of 100 percent fresh and 0 percent preservatives. We are also expanding geographically to Saudi Arabia.”
Expanding further on the technology they use around the investment in aquaculture, Kadavil clarified, “We use cutting-edge research in AI and precision aquaculture for furthering food security in a sustainable manner while also giving better value to consumers, fishermen and farmers. To this end, we intend to bring our US patent pending AI-powered Virtual Commodities Exchange technology, our e-grocery platform and our nano farm aquaculture technology to Abu Dhabi, enhancing food production and distribution for the region. ADIO has been a terrific partner to us and we are thankful for their support in helping us be part of the vision.”
FreshtoHome has some of the best technical talent in the world and some of the best scientists in the aquaculture space. Dr Edward, the company’s head of R&D and a marine biologist is among the pioneers in shrimp farming in India. FreshtoHome CTO, Jayesh Jose, the former CTO of Zynga Farmville, will join the team to help ramp up a similar team that can innovate through R&D.
Sustainability is ingrained into what Freshtohome does, reiterated Kadavil. The company today provide jobs directly or indirectly to over 17,000 people and also plays a big role in furthering food security using innovative farming techniques.
“We are bringing these technologies to UAE to enable local job creation and in furthering food security of the region through intense aquaculture and precision agriculture,” added Kadavil. “We are also establishing e-grocery and aquaculture infrastructure in Abu Dhabi and broader GCC. Our vision is to provide food without chemical preservatives to the next billion - we are making good strides in this journey and are moving towards massive agriculture and fish farming using technology in a sustainable manner to further this course.”
