Nuggets From FirstCry DRHP: Ecommerce Unicorn Runs 180 Preschools

Omnichannel marketplace FirstCry, which on Thursday (December 28) filed its draft papers for an initial public offering (IPO), also runs 180 preschools across 91 Indian cities under its umbrella brand – Intelli Education, which was rebranded after the former acquired Oi Playschool from Hyderabad’s People Combine Group in 2019.

At the time of acquisition, Oi Playschool operated 55 centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and FirstCry had then announced it would expand the playschool to more than 1,000 centres across the country.

However, understandably, the two long years of pandemic interrupted its expansion plans.

The SoftBank-backed company’s parent entity Brainbees Solutions Private Ltd has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for raising INR 1,816 Cr via fresh issues of shares. 

The IPO offer also comprises an offer-for-sale (OFS) complement which will allow the startup’s existing shareholders to sell up to 5.43 Cr equity shares.

As per the startup’s DRHP, FirstCry under Intelli Education runs preschools which offer learning aids and core education services for kids between the ages of one to six.

The preschool offers products and services ranging from preschools, books, toys and home learning kits to baby cognitive development activities.

By the end of the first quarter of FY24, Intelli Education had a total enrollment of 6,649 students.

Founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, FirstCry sells baby care and mother products through online platforms, company-owned modern stores, franchisee-owned modern stores and general trade retail distribution.

“…With the aim of providing early childhood experience learning centres to parents, in November 2019, we acquired a chain of preschools that was in existence since 2010 and re-branded them with the Intellitots brand in 2020,” the DRHP added.

These preschools instill a brand awareness about FirstCry to these kids’ parents. FirstCry’s preschool competes against Euro Kids, Kidzee, among others.

In 2021, the company also launched FirstCry Intelliskills, an early learning brand that develops educator-certified books and toys which aid a child’s learning beyond school.