FreshR, India's largest fish and meat distribution company, recently announced a USD $1.2 million funding round led by Axilor Ventures and 1crowd. FreshR will use the new funding to expand its geographical footprint, develop and implement its technology stack, and expand its team.
FreshR, founded by Ambika Satapathy and Sadananda Satapathy, aggregates an extremely fragmented national demand base and ensures quality, variety, and secure high-value transactions for its customers through a combination of operational efficiency and technology integration.
Ambika Satapathy, Co-founder of FreshR, commented on the announcement, saying, "The Indian meat industry, of which General Trade and HORECA are the largest segments, suffers from fragmented demand, high perishability, and under-invested, opaque supply chains." This results in poor product quality and massive waste.
Our goal is to organize the domestic market by leveraging technology to meet this fragmented demand and investing in world-class infrastructure to manage pan-India sourcing and distribution.
FreshR has farmed, traded, processed, and distributed highly perishable meat products in some of the most remote geographies in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh since its inception.
Prachi Sinha, the deal leads at Axilor, commented on the company, saying, "FreshR's full-stack model and digital footprint are critical to increasing their relevance to their buyers and distributors." FreshR has outperformed the industry in terms of growth while maintaining healthy contribution margins."
Earlier this year, the company also launched an application that is a one-of-a-kind resource used to standardize prices and grades for the sector and allows bulk buyers from across India to place orders and track quality processes.
"Ambika and Sadanand are classic entrepreneurs who have built a strong business that targets the meat and fisheries supply chain industry, bringing high-quality standards, transparency, and financial access to all stakeholders in the value chain." Their technology-led model aids in the integration of a highly fragmented industry, bringing significant efficiencies in creating time and place utility for highly perishable products.
"We are excited to work with them as they enter a very exciting stage of growth," said Natasha Kothari, Partner at 1Crowd. FreshR previously raised a pre-seed round of funding from Villgro, Upaya Social Ventures, Beyond Capital Fund, and other early-stage investors.
