What is one of the biggest advantages of India’s geographical position? Coastline, right? We have one of the world’s largest coastal areas. India cleverly takes on the advantages of its coastal area with its sea exports to foreign countries.
We have built a great market for the sea exports, and many countries depend on India for its fisheries and seafood. India is a major player in global fish production, and we are the second largest when compared worldwide. India has over 7000 km of coastline and an enormous amount of business opportunities.
India consumes 95% of fresh fish compared to the USA, where they consume 80% of frozen fish. But the only problem we face today in India is that India is deeply rooted in small businesses wherein millions of people depend on them for their livelihood.
While the industry is rich in potential, it is also deeply traditional and fragmented, dominated by millions of small businesses that provide livelihoods to local communities. The sector’s unorganized nature has created a broken supply chain. Nearly 40% of fish production is lost every year due to poor logistics, improper cold storage, and inefficiencies in distribution.
This is where the problem became too large to ignore. And out of this problem, a new-age company was born to disrupt the system, reimagine seafood supply chains, and give fishermen and retailers a better way to do business, and the company is Captain Fresh.
The story of Captain Fresh begins with its founder, Utham Gowda, who started the company in 2019. He came from a strong background in finance and investments; Utham had spent years analyzing businesses. But during his exposure to the seafood industry, he realized problems with the industry, such as poor supply chains, lack of cold storage, and middlemen exploitation.
He saw firsthand how fishermen and aquaculture farmers struggled with unpredictable demand, delayed payments, and low margins, while retailers and exporters dealt with inconsistent quality and wastage.
On both sides he saw a problem, and exactly in between, middlemen benefited, leaving producers and sellers trapped in inefficiency.
So, this is where the fresh captain started to use technology and smart logistics to organize one of India’s most fragmented sectors. Instead of being another middleman, Captain Fresh became a tech-enabled marketplace that directly connected fishermen to retailers, exporters, and hotels, ensuring fair pricing, assured demand, and fresher fish.
Captain Fresh has scaled up so fast, and there are many reasons for it. One of the major reasons for it is the solution that they offered. With the marketplace, they are consistent in offering quality produce, improving the supply chain, and reducing wastage.
According to various sources, they have reduced the wastage to about 5% compared to the 30-40% wastage in traditional methods. This all happened because of its core tech-led solutions.
They built a demand forecasting model, which is a real-time bidding engine, and that has helped a lot.
One of Captain Fresh’s biggest innovations is ChopXperts, who are trained specialists who deliver 150+ standardized fish cuts, from fillets and steaks to region-specific curry cuts. This ensures every order is uniform, hygienic, and consistent, solving a long-standing problem of variability in traditional markets.
And one of the biggest challenges in this sector is the seasonality. This business is highly seasonal. Monsoons, fishing bans, and regional restrictions impact the supply chain.
But when you source and sell in multiple geographies, you can survive and get through it. Captain Fresh has expanded into various countries, so when the supply reduced in one country, they could easily tap into another country and consistently maintain the business.
Well, this all seems like there are no problems or challenges that the company faces, right? No, it faces several challenges in order to perform better. The biggest challenge is with cold chain logistics, then comes the regulations and rules set by the countries. Every country has its own set of rules and guidelines, so abiding by all of them is crucial.
At the grassroots, convincing traditional fishermen and small producers, many of whom have been operating the same way for decades, to embrace a digital-first system is still an ongoing effort.
The overall efforts of the company worked out so well, and that led to the latest sensational news that we see these days, which is the IPO.
According to several sources, the company has already filed its confidential DRHP with SEBI. The company is planning for a $400 Mn (approx. ₹3,400 Cr) IPO. The offering is expected to include a fresh issue worth $200 Mn (₹1,700 Cr) alongside an offer for sale (OFS) ranging between $150 and 200 Mn (₹1,300–1,700 Cr). On the financial front, the startup has showcased remarkable growth, reporting ₹3,200 Cr in revenue, ₹120 Cr in EBITDA, and a net profit of ₹40 Cr in FY25.
The company has received massive support from various big investors since its early days. Captain Fresh has raised over $200 Mn in funding so far, with its most recent being a $30 Mn pre-IPO round in January 2025 backed by marquee investors such as Prosus, Accel, and Tiger Global. Over the years, it has drawn strong interest from leading venture capital firms, including Matrix Partners, Accel, Tiger Global, Ankur Capital, and Prosus, reflecting the confidence of global investors in its ability to transform the seafood supply chain.
The demand for India’s seafood is rising exponentially, and let’s see how this company rides the wave in the future.
