FirstCry, India’s largest e-commerce platform for mother and baby products, aims to raise $218 million through the sale of new shares in its initial public offering, nearly a third of the $700 million it had initially targeted.
Brainbees Solutions, the parent company of online baby products marketplace FirstCry, wrote in a draft prospectus filed with the local market regulator that some investors including SoftBank, NewQuest and TPG plan to sell some shares as part of the IPO.
The startup is looking at a valuation of about $4 billion, down from a previous target of $6 billion last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. FirstCry said it had not set the price in its draft prospectus. Lead managers appointed for the IPO include Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities India and JM Financial.
Founded in 2010, FirstCry plans to use the IPO proceeds to spend on building new stores and warehouses, sales and marketing initiatives, investments in overseas and domestic expansion, technology costs and inorganic growth through acquisitions. FirstCry offers over 1 million SKUs from over 6,800 brands. This includes major Indian and international third-party brands as well as FirstCry’s household brands such as BabyHug, Babyoye and others.\
Data for FirstCry shareholders, who own at least 1%, as of Thursday. (Disclosure: FirstCry DRHP)
The startup also operates 180 preschools under the FirstCry Intellitots brand across India. Brainbees has also expanded overseas by launching FirstCry online platforms in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It also acquired a majority stake in GlobalBees Brands in 2021 to invest in digital-first brands in categories beyond MBK.
FirstCry said it more than doubled its total revenue to $688.4 million in the fiscal year ending March 2023, from $302 million in the same period a year ago. In the financial year that ended in March this year, its losses had ballooned to $58.3 million, from $9.4 million a year earlier.
