Bangalore, India-based online retailer FreshToHome will receive incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to develop agriculture and aquaculture projects in the United Arab Emirates.
ADIO will also provide financial and non-financial incentives to two other agriculture technology companies, Pure Harvest and Nanoracks.
These two companies and FreshToHome will incentives worth AED 152 million (USD 41.4 million, EUR 34.2 million) to develop agriculture and aquaculture solutions for food production in Abu Dhabi.
ADIO Director General Tariq Bin Hendi said he expects to work with FreshToHome on the projects that will be developed in the U.A.E.'s desert conditions “in the coming months."
Meanwhile, FreshToHome said it will apply advanced technologies to its projects in Abu Dhabi.
"At FreshToHome, we use cutting-edge research in [artificial intelligence] and precision aquaculture for furthering food security in a sustainable manner while also giving better value to consumers, fishermen, and farmers,” FreshToHome CEO and Co-Founder Shan Kadavil said. “To this end, we intend to bring our U.S. 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 said it is the world’s leading fully integrated online platform in fresh fish and meat sales, with orders worth USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.2 million) per month and annual sales of USD 85 million (EUR 70.2 million). The platform that the company operates allows fishermen, farmers, and FreshToHome itself to cut middlemen out of their supply chains, better control the quality of their products, and reduce prices, according to the company.
In August 2019, the start-up announced that it secured USD 20 million (EUR 16.5 million) in a Series B fundraising round led by Iron Pillar and Joe Hirao, founder of Japan’s ZIGExn, who praised the “Silicon Valley entrepreneurship background” of FreshToHome’s founders their experience participating on management boards of other companies. FreshToHome’s other early backers included Zynga founder Mark Pincus and Google Ventures CEO David Krane.
In October, FreshToHome announced it has raised USD 121 million (EUR 100 million) in Series C funding to aid its expansion schemes.
Photo courtesy of FreshToHome
