Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin & Velos Capital Invests $11 Mn In Mumbai-Based Hopscotch In Series B

Mumbai based online store for babycare and kids products Hopscotch has raised $11 Mn in Series B round of funding led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Los Angeles based VC firm Velos Capital. This will be Saverin’s and Velos Partners’ first investment in an Indian startup.

“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. The company’s early track record in the large and growing Indian ecommerce market combined with team’s experience, energy and vision makes this an intriguing investment opportunity,” says Savemand, who will join the company’s board as an observer.

Hopscotch was founded in 2012 and has raised $15 Mn in funding till date. Previously, it had raised $2 million from Singapore based Lion Rock Capital and individuals such as Nisaba Godrej, Diapers.com CTO Wei Yan and Annus.

Hopscotch offers products for infants and kids, the site features over 1,000 local and international brands across multiple product categories, including apparel, shoes, toys and accessories.

“The latest round of funding will enable us to ramp up marketing, add more product categories and build out the senior management team,” Hopscotch founder and CEO Rahul Anand said.

The babycare and kids products market is estimated at INR 4,200 Cr. annually growing at 15-20% a year, with number of players operating in this space.

Last year Firstcry had also raised INR 92 Cr. in funding led by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, IDG Ventures & Saif partners. Babyoye, is yet another retailer which had investors like Helion Venture Partners, Accel Partners and Tiger Global backing. Last month, there were also rumors that the Mahindra Group, a $17 Bn conglomerate is looking to buy online retailer for kids products Babyoye. But just like any other ecommerce category, online kids products category also faces challenges as in 2013, Hushbabies.com was shut down by Lapis Marketing.

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