FirstCry raises Rs 224 cr; to double branded stores to 200

Online portal for baby products, FirstCry today said it has raised USD 36 million (about Rs 224 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by VC funds Valiant Capital Partners and New Enterprise Associates.
With this round, the firm, which claims to be Asia's largest online store for babies and kids products, has raised a total of around USD 70 million.
The firm will utilise the funds to invest on technology and increasing its product line-up as well as double the number of its branded franchise stores to 200 in the next 12 months.
Started in September 2010, FirstCry is owned by Brainbees Solutions and has over 800 national and international brands with more than 90,000 product offerings.

"Brainbees Solutions has raised a USD 36 million Series D round led by Valiant Capital Partners and New Enterprise Associates (NEA)," Brainbees founder and CEO Supam Maheshwari told PTI.
Other existing investors IDG Ventures India, Vertex and SAIF Partners also participated in this round, he added.

FristCry's other investors include SAIF Partners and Temasek Holdings.
On utilisation of the funds, Maheshwari said: "We will invest on our technology infrastructure across all channels (online, mobile and offline) as well as investing in the growth of our private label business. We will also expand out franchise stores to 200 in the next 12 months."

At present, the firm has over 100 branded franchisee stores across 85 cities in the country, besides distribution partnerships with over 5,000 hospitals.
Its private label, BabyHug is a leading baby apparel brand and the company has also started to expand it into multiple categories beyond apparel such as nursery.