Barely a month after raising $26 million, Indian kids e-store FirstCry scoops another US$36 million in fresh funding led by Silicon Valley venture fund New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and San Francisco-based hedge fund Valiant Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investors IDG Ventures India, Temasek’s subsidiary Vertex Venture Holding, and SAIF Partners.
FirstCry follows a hybrid retail model with about 100 franchisee stores across 85 cities across the country. “We plan to use the funds to focus on expanding our leadership across all channels (online, mobile, and offline), as well as investing in the growth of our private label business,” says Supam Maheshwari, founder & CEO of Brainbees.
Interestingly, NEA had previously backed US-based Diapers.com which was acquired by Amazon. Its founder has recently set up baby products e-store Hopscotch in India and raised US$15 million across several rounds of funding.
FirstCry also competes head-on with Indian multinational conglomerate Mahindra Group-acquired BabyOye. According to separate media reports, the acquisition was a write-off for the investors.
In India, the vertical has gone through a consolidation phase wherein Kalaari Capital-backed Hushbabies shut down and Hoopos merged with Babyoye.
Source: The Economic Times
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