SoftBank-backed Indian baby products retailer FirstCry has raised about $315 million from a clutch of private equity
investors including TPG, ChrysCapital and Premji Invest.
The aforementioned investors have infused about $100 million each in the company. The transaction, which was a
mix of primary and secondary infusions, led to an exit of early investors including Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF
Partners), Vertex Partners and MegaDelta Capital Advisors who have sold their entire stakes in the company.
According to a report in The Economic Times, the deal has valued FirstCry at around $1.9-2.1 billion.
In January, FirstCry was in advanced talks with ChrysCapital and three other
investors for the fundraising.
“Of the four investors, talks with Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) could not fructify,” said an industry
source aware of the latest development.
Founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, FirstCry is expected to use the funding to ramp up its
online and offline presence. The company also plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) over the next 18-24
months.
FirstCry claims to offer over 2 lakh baby and kids products ranging from clothing to other essentials across 6,000
brands. It has expanded its footprint to over 400 stores across India, according to its website.
The company hit headlines in January last year when it raised $300 million from SoftBank Group Corp reportedly at
a valuation of $1.2 billion. Prior to the latest infusion, SoftBank Vision Fund was reportedly holding about 46.6%
stake in FirstCry.
Prior to Softbank’s funding, FirstCry raised about $125 million in total from investors including IDG Ventures India
(now Chiratae Ventures), SAIF Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of
Temasek.
In 2016, FirstCry had acquired the franchise division of Mahindra Retail Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Mahindra &
Mahindra Ltd, which owned online babycare business BabyOye for $54.2 million in a cash-and-stock deal.
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