D2C Babycare Brand R For Rabbit Raises INR 40 Cr; Plans Product Portfolio Expansion

After the birth of their daughter Aarna, entrepreneur couple Kinjal and Kunal Popat, observed a huge gap in the design and quality of the baby products available in the market. To address the gap, with “Make In India” as a central theme and prioritising child safety and sustainability, they launched R For Rabbit in 2014.

Today (October 27), the startup has announced that it has raised INR 40 Cr (approx $5.34 Mn) from private equity firm Xponentia Capital Partners. The babycare D2C brand plans to use the funds to scale distribution and operations in the domestic market.

It further plans to enhance the existing product portfolio and introduce new categories of products. While R For Rabbit products are mostly available through online channels, the startup is slowly building an omnichannel presence including offline channels.

Currently, the Ahmedabad-based D2C startup has a pan-India presence, and partnerships with Amazon, Flipkart, FirstCry, Snapdeal, among others.

Its product portfolio includes baby products such as baby gears, ride-on, nursing and feeding equipment, activity and bathing toys, tricycles and prams, baby bathtubs, mini washing machines, among others.

Targeting the new generation of “smart” parents, Kunal states that R For Rabbit has over 15 Lakh customers across the country. The startup further claims to have an annual revenue run rate of around INR 100 Cr in FY22.

Baby Care & Utility Market Though Growing, Is Still In Infancy Stage

Rising incomes, decreasing average family sizes and better-informed parents, have contributed to a spurt in India’s baby care products market. Moreover, Indian parents are constantly being introduced to better and advanced products.

Not only that, the market is currently quite unorganised. A majority share is still in the hands of large multinationals such as Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Unilever, Kimberly Clarke, among others.

It is also interesting to note that currently, India nearly has the world’s 25% of the under-five-year-old population, significantly larger than China.

An estimation by Data Bridge Market Research showed that the Indian baby care products market is expected to reach over $5 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 16.9% between 2020 to 2027. Currently, the market is dominated by non-premium baby care product ranges such as diapers, creams, soaps, among others.

Addressing the premium as well as the mass product range market is Supam Maheshwari’s FirstCry. Starting as a kidswear ecommerce platform, the ecommerce giant has 4 Mn+ users across online and offline channels. Its retail footprint includes over 300 stores across 125 cities. Other platforms offering premium baby products include Baby Shop Online, Mothercare, Meemee, Chicco, among others.

Recently Bollywood actress Dia Mirza also invested in Meeta Sharma Gupta’s D2C brand shumee that designs development-friendly child-safe toys for children up to the age of 8.