FirstCry, Unicommerce eSolutions mark strong trading debuts; stocks rise

FirstCry has also joined the club of startup unicorns that have successfully IPO'd over the last few years. Others include Zomato, Paytm, PolicyBazaar, and Ola

Brainbees Solutions, the parent of the baby products’ brand FirstCry, and e-commerce solutions provider Unicommerce eSolutions made stellar debuts on the bourses Tuesday.

Shares of FirstCry jumped 46 per cent, propelling the Supam Maheshwari-led firm’s market value to Rs 35,214 crore, while Kunal Bahl-led Unicommerce stock price almost doubled.

Interestingly, both firms and also Ola Electric, which listed on Friday, are backed by Japan’s SoftBank, a major investor in the new-age tech space.

FirstCry has also joined the club of startup unicorns that have successfully launched their IPOs over the past few years. Others include Zomato, Paytm, PolicyBazaar and Ola.

 

 

“To our minds, the really differentiating mentality of startups is that they worship at the temple of value creation. Almost to the exclusion of everything else. They are not there necessarily to build empires, they are there to build and create value; and that is why they are so agile; so nimble; and so focused,” said Anand Mahindra, chairperson, M&M, during FirstCry’s listing ceremony.

Shares of FirstCry closed at Rs 678 apiece against the issue price of Rs 465 per share. Its IPO consisted of a fresh fund raise worth Rs 1,666 crore and a secondary share sale worth Rs 2,528 crore. The selling shareholders in the Rs 4,193-crore IPO were SoftBank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Premji Invest and TPG.

FirstCry will use the IPO proceeds on setting up new stores, digital expansion and expanding in Saudi Arabia. In FY24, the company had revenues from operations of Rs 6,480 crore and net loss of Rs 321 crore.

Both FirstCry and Unicommerce received strong demand from investors during their IPO subscription period.

Unicommerce’s listing-day gains are second after BLS eServices for IPOs in 2024. After hitting a high of Rs 256, the stock closed at Rs 210 apiece on Tuesday against the issue price of Rs 108 per share.

The company’s Rs 277-crore IPO was entirely an offer for sale by AceVector (Snapdeal) and SoftBank.

Unicommerce is an e-commerce enablement platform, specialising in software as a service (SaaS) for processing transactions. A comprehensive suite of solutions ensures seamless end-to-end management of e-commerce operations for brands, retailers, and logistics providers.