Prosus continues to pour money into India, where the group made its largest acquisition to date earlier this year, backing a seafood marketplace platform in a R635m funding round.
The venture arm of Naspers’s international unit, this week jointly led the funding round in a technology backed seafood marketplace called Captain Fresh with US investment firm, Tiger Global.
The platform, founded in 2019 by Utham Gowda, enables small fishermen and farmers along the Indian coast to list their produce, feeding into the larger supply chains of businesses that require stock of seafood. Demand for seafood is fragmented across India, a problem that the start-up is looking to address by creating a centralised marketplace.
“For centuries, the fish and seafood industry has stayed the same with very little innovation and we have a unique opportunity to revolutionise the sector utilising technology,” said Gowda, who serves as the company's CEO.
Captain Fresh has made this possible through a tech-based distribution network that spans 20 cities and more than 2,000 retail businesses. The company says it has become a reliable alternative to the wholesale wet markets in these cities for suppliers and business to business customers, as well as “rapidly emerging” as “a preferred monetisation partner for supplier communities across the Indian coast.”
Unlike fellow technology investors like Google, Facebook and Amazon, Prosus — valued at R2.5-trillion on the JSE — has focused its strategy on conquering emerging market countries. One country in particular, India which boast a population of over a billion people, stands out as part of the mission.
Back in August, the group made its largest acquisition to date, buying out Indian digital payments provider BillDesk for $4.7bn, about R68bn at the time. Prosus has also backed BYJU’S, one of the world’s largest education technology companies with more than 70-million students on its platform.
The group also has people from India on its board of directors.
Outside the large deals, Prosus Ventures continues to fund a number of start-ups in the country. The venture unit participated in a $570m fund-raise for Meesho, India’s fastest-growing internet commerce platform, back in September.
Captain Fresh plans to use the new capital to expand its technology platform, both for the supply and demand side network. It has plans for a real-time trading marketplace, pricing and quality standardisation using artificial intelligence (AI), and automation to move large volumes with greater accuracy.
In addition, the funds will go towards expanding the company's team and distribution network.
The start-up says it grew sixfold in the past 12 months and is transforming the market with its technology. Captain Fresh says its growth is down to “positive unit economics, coupled with industry-leading gross margins, high frequency and rapid expansion make it the leading fish & seafood marketplace in India”.
In a statement, Ashutosh Sharma, head of investments for India at Prosus Ventures, said: “We are confident about their ability to utilise technology to solve for efficiency and scalability challenges and at the same time make a very positive impact on a large number of fishermen in the country.”
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