Facebook co-founder, Velos back India start-up Hopscotch
Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Singapore-based Velos Partners have committed $11 million in Series B funding to Indian babywear and kidswear retailer Hopscotch.
Emerging markets-focused Rise Capital and Middle East investor Jabbar Internet Group also participated in the round, as did existing backers LionRock Capital and Skype co-founder Toivo Annus. The Series A came in February 2014 and was worth around $2 million, according to AVCJ Research.
Hopscotch, which is owned and operated by Hit the Mark, sells a wide range of products for babies and young children, including apparel and footwear, toys and books, and maternity products. It is run as a limited-time boutique or flash sales site, offering goods at a discount for limited periods of time.
Other companies operating in the baby and kids-focused e-commerce space include Brainbees Solutions, which runs FirstCry, and Babyoye. Brainbees received a $15 million Series C round early last year led by Vertex Venture Management and featuring existing investors IDG Ventures and SAIF Partners, while Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management-backed Babyoye merged with Hoopos in 2013.
Hopscotch was founded in 2012 by Rahul Anand and Lisa Kennedy, both of whom previously worked at Diapers.com, a US-based e-commerce site specializing in babywear. The parent company, Quidsi, was acquired by Amazon in 2010. Last year, Hopscotch bought online school supplies retailer SkoolShop, which was an investee of Blume Ventures.
"I have been actively following the Indian internet market and I am thrilled to make my first direct investment in India in a company of the calibre of Hopscotch.in," Saverin said in a statement. He will join the company's board alongside Samrat Ganguly, co-founder and managing partner of Velos.
Saverin has made a number of investments in start-ups in Singapore, where he resides. These include Nitrous.IO, a cloud-based platform for app developers, and online grocery retailer RedMart. LionRock and Annus are also investors in RedMart.
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