🐟 Captain Fresh files $400M IPO splash

🌞 Good morning!

It’s Tuesday and the caffeine isn’t the only thing kicking in. After a long-weekend recharge, India’s markets are buzzing on GST optimism, airlines abroad are flying into turbulence, and tech—from Jio to Linktree—is rewriting the rules of the game. Buckle up, today’s brew is piping hot ☕🚀

📰 Chai Shots

• 🚗 FASTag Annual Pass Zooms Ahead: NHAI’s new ₹3,000 FASTag Annual Pass has already signed up over 5 lakh users in four days, with Tamil Nadu leading purchases. Valid across 1,150 toll plazas, it covers 200 crossings or a year, easing travel for highway commuters.

• 🔗 Linktree Goes Dark in India: The “link-in-bio” app has mysteriously gone offline across India, affecting millions of creators. India is Linktree’s 5th-largest market, but the Australian startup says it hasn’t been informed why access has been blocked.

• 💻 US Eyes Stake in Intel: Reports say the Trump administration may convert Intel’s $10.9B Chips Act grants into equity, giving Washington up to a 10% stake worth $10.5B. Intel stock fell 5.5% after the news.

• 🐟 Captain Fresh Eyes $400M IPO: The seafood supply chain startup has filed confidential IPO papers for a $400M (₹3,400 crore) raise. Profitable in FY25, it posted ₹3,200 crore revenue with ₹40 crore net profit. Backed by Prosus and Accel, it plans acquisitions in the US and Europe. More in the Big Brew!

📈 Market Masala

• 📊 Sensex & Nifty Rally: Markets gained for the third session as S&P upgraded India’s rating and GST reform hopes lifted sentiment. Sensex jumped 676 points to 81,274 and Nifty rose 246 to 24,876. Autos led with a 4% surge, while Ashok Leyland spiked 8% and Vodafone Idea gained 5%.

• 💊 India Pushes Back on US Drug Probe: Indian pharma firms want generic drugs excluded from a US national security review of medicine imports. Though spared from upcoming tariffs, they warn a probe could disrupt supplies and raise costs.

• 💼 Taxman Targets Jane Street India: Authorities are probing if Jane Street’s India arm was simply executing trades directed from abroad. If proven, it could block local tax benefits and challenge treaty perks used by its Singapore and Hong Kong entities.

• ☀️ Kamath Backs Goldi Solar: Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath has invested ₹137.5 crore in Goldi Solar, which expanded module capacity to 14.7 GW this year. With India targeting 280 GW of solar by 2030, Goldi is also scaling solar cell manufacturing in Surat.

• 👷 Unemployment Eases to 5.2%: Joblessness fell in July from 5.6% to 5.2%, led by rural gains (down to 4.4%). Urban unemployment rose slightly to 7.2%. Labour participation also improved, edging up to 41.4%.

🌍 Global Masala

• ✈️ Air Canada Strike Grounds Passengers: 10,000 flight attendants are still striking despite a back-to-work order, grounding flights for 130,000 daily passengers. The standoff has forced Air Canada to suspend profit forecasts, with PM Mark Carney urging a resolution.

• 🇦🇺 Qantas Fined AU$90M: An Australian court fined Qantas AU$90M for illegally laying off 1,820 workers during Covid. On top of AU$120M in compensation, the judge called it the most serious labor breach in Australia’s history.

🍵 The Big Brew: Captain Fresh Takes the Plunge With $400 Mn IPO

Bengaluru-based seafood supply chain platform Captain Fresh has quietly filed for a $400 Mn IPO with SEBI, setting its sights on a valuation north of $1 Bn. The move positions the Tiger Global–backed startup as one of the few Indian B2B players in food supply chains bold enough to test public markets this early.

Here’s the bigger picture:

• 🐟 A Net Turnaround Story: In FY25, Captain Fresh logged ₹3,200 Cr in revenue, ₹120 Cr in EBITDA, and swung to a ₹40 Cr net profit—a remarkable bounce from steep losses the year before. Revenue has grown fivefold in just two years.

• 🌍 Global First, India Later: Over 60% of sales come from the US, with the rest split across Europe, the UAE, and a sliver from India. The company owns seafood brands like CenSea and Ocean Garden in the US, Koral in Poland, and Senecrus in France.

• 🦞 Tech-First Model: Unlike traditional seafood giants, Captain Fresh doesn’t own boats or farms. Instead, it plugs global suppliers into a central tech platform that manages quality, logistics, and demand. The model has drawn comparisons to “the OYO of seafood,” but with better margins.

• 📈 IPO Mechanics: The listing will combine a $200 Mn fresh issue with a $150–200 Mn offer for sale (OFS), where existing investors like Accel, Prosus, Matrix Partners, and Tiger Global may trim stakes. Proceeds will go toward debt repayment and global expansion.

• 🔮 Growth Ambitions: Founder Utham Gowda has set a bold target of hitting $2 Bn in revenue by 2027. The company already employs over 400 people worldwide, with half based outside India.

Why it matters:
If the IPO sails through, Captain Fresh won’t just be a seafood story—it could spark a trend of profitable, globally oriented Indian startups hitting the Indian market, challenging the perception that tech IPOs are loss-making gambles. But with over half its revenues tied to US demand, Trump’s tariff swings may end up being the real catch.

🚀 Startup Scoop

• 🥤 DOBRA Raises ₹1.5 Cr: F&B brand DOBRA secured seed funding led by D2C Insider’s Super Angels Fund to expand across offline retail, food services, and quick commerce. International expansion is also on the cards.

• 🧠 Google Ups Stake in TeraWulf: Google is boosting its stake to ~14% in bitcoin miner–turned–AI data center operator TeraWulf, backing $3.2B in financing for its New York campus. Shares have surged 86% in five days.

🤓 Chai Break Trivia

🤓 Did you know? The first email ever sent (back in 1971) was just “QWERTYUIOP” — a straight keyboard smash by engineer Ray Tomlinson. 📧⌨️ Who knew the digital age would start with gibberish?

🔮 What’s Brewing Next

• 📡 Telcos Lobby for GST Cut: Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea plan to push the government to slash GST on telecom from 18% to 5%. If cleared, mobile and broadband bills could drop sharply post-Diwali.

That’s all for today’s pour of Masala Chai! From GST fireworks at home to strikes shaking up skies abroad, there’s no shortage of drama in business and markets. Sip your chai, enjoy the midweek momentum, and remember—like FASTag’s new pass, we’ll keep you moving smoothly through the headlines 😉. See you tomorrow!