VC-backed FirstCry buys rival Babyoye

FirstCry will pay INR3.6 billion ($54 million) to Babyoye's parent Mahindra Retail, mostly in stock, according to a filing; the purchase is expected to close by the middle of December. The Mahindra Group, Adveq Management and existing investors also invested $34 million in FirstCry.

Babyoye's online retail operations will be integrated into FirstCry and its offline stores will be rebranded following the acquisition. The combined company will have an online customer base of over four million users and more than 300 physical stores across 125 cities.

FirstCry was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Supam Maheshwari, who will continue as the CEO. It sells maternity wear, nursery accessories, diapers and children's clothing, and owns its own children's apparel brand BabyHug. The company's VC backers include Valiant Capital Partners, which led its $26 million Series D round last year, along with IDG Ventures India, Vertex Venture Management and SAIF Partners, all of whom contributed to the new funding round.

Babyoye and FirstCry were the last survivors of a wave of consolidation in India's child-focused online retail segment in which the two absorbed more than a dozen similar players between 2014 and 2016. A similar pattern has played out among other VC-backed consumer technology companies that could not differentiate themselves enough from their many competitors to continue raising support.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Buyouts
• Expansion
• India
• TMT
• Valiant Partners Co.
• IDG Ventures
• Adveq Management AG
• Vertex Management (II)
• SAIF Partners