SoftBank invests $150m in India's FirstCry
SoftBank Vision Fund has committed $150 million to Indian online baby and child-focused retailer FirstCry as the first tranche in a planned $400 million Series E round.
According to filings with the Registrar of Companies cited by Indian media sources, Vision Fund has agreed to buy 73 million shares in Firstcry’s parent company Brainbees for INR381 each over the next two years. The investment reportedly values FirstCry at around $850 million and will give SoftBank a 47% stake in the company.
FirstCry was founded in 2010 and claims to be Asia’s largest online portal for baby and children’s products. The platform offers more than 200,000 products from international and Indian brands in categories such as toys, clothes, healthcare, and feeding. It also operates a network of over 300 offline stores in 29 states and markets its own line of baby clothes under the Babyhug brand.
The company has raised several rounds of VC funding from investors including Valiant Capital Partners, IDG Ventures India (now Chiratae Ventures), and Vertex Venture Management. It acquired chief rival Babyoye in 2016, the last stage in a wave of consolidation that saw both companies absorb more than a dozen similar players over the preceding two years.
SoftBank Vision Fund targets majority and minority positions in technology companies, and reached a first close of over $93 million in 2017. Its India investments include e-commerce logistics services provider Delhivery, online hospitality platform Oyo, and financial services portal PolicyBazaar.
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