Captain Fresh files for $400 million IPO with SEBI

Captain Fresh files for $400 million IPO with SEBI

The move follows soon after the company converted into a public limited entity

Captain Fresh, a business-to-business (B2B) seafood startup, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), seeking to raise $350–400 million.

The Tiger Global-backed company aims to expand its technology-driven supply chain platform in the $450 billion global seafood market.

The offering is expected to include about $200 million worth of new shares, valuing the company at over $1 billion. The filing comes soon after Captain Fresh converted into a public limited entity.

Founded in 2020 by Utham Gowda, Captain Fresh, based in Bengaluru, has evolved into a multi-species, multi-origin seafood conglomerate. It is recognised for deploying technology to transform a traditionally fragmented sector.

It owns global brands such as CenSea and Ocean Garden in the US, Koral in Poland, and Senecrus in France. Its portfolio includes shrimp, salmon, tuna, cephalopods, crab and lobster.

The firm projects a profitable bottom line this fiscal year, with revenues between $500 million and $550 million, a five-fold increase in two years. Over the next two years, it’s target revenue is $2 billion.

Its revenue from operations rose 71 percent to Rs.1,395 crore in FY 2024 from Rs.817 crore in FY 2023. The net losses narrowed 22 percent to Rs.229 crore from Rs.294 crore in FY 2023.

Early this year, Captain Fresh raised Rs.100 crore from the Motilal Oswal Group, as part of a pre-IPO funding round. Ahead of the listing, it strengthened the leadership team, appointing Mathew George as Group CFO, Jayant Prakash as Vice-President of Legal and Compliance, and Rupali Gupta as Group CHRO.

Over 60 percent of the company’s revenue comes from the US, with the rest from Europe, India, the UAE and other markets. It has over 400 employees, half of them based outside India.

Emphasising the company’s asset-light model as a differentiator, Gowda said that unlike traditional players, Captain Fresh does not own factories, vessels, or farms. Instead, it uses a technology-driven operating system that integrates these assets on a single platform. This allows it to monitor and influence decisions at partner facilities, giving it control over production

The company counts Accel, Prosus, Matrix Partners (Z47) and Tiger Global among its investors. It has raised $226 million in funding and is currently valued at $541 million.