Supam Maheswari’s FirstCry Looking To File $700 Mn IPO This Month

Supam Maheswari-led omnichannel baby & kids marketplace FirstCry can raise about $700 Mn through an initial public offering (IPO) that it may file this month. 

Further, its consolidated total revenue soared to INR 1,740 Cr, a 141.3% rise from INR 896.7 Cr it generated during the same period in the previous financial year.

According to Bloomberg, FirstCry is one of the few startups in India, which is planning to tap the IPO route after being profitable at an operational level and seeking a valuation of at least $6 Bn.

The Pune-based ecommerce startup has posted a profit after tax of INR 215.94 Cr in FY21, a significant jump from INR 190.8 Cr of loss it had incurred in FY20, as reported by Inc42. 

The ecommerce player further saw its expenses growing to INR 1,645.3 Cr in FY21, from INR 1,088.1 Cr in FY20. 

FirstCry, which sells newborn, baby and kids products such as toys, clothings, footwear, and accessories, among others, saw its revenue from operations cross INR 1,600 Cr mark in FY21. 

Between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, it clocked a total revenue from operations worth INR 1,602.8 Cr, an almost 2X rise from INR 814.1 Cr it earned in FY20.

Founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, FirstCry offers different categories of baby and kids products from clothing to other essentials. 

The startup boasts of having an online presence along with a retail footprint of more than 300 stores across 125 cities. The Pune-based startup claims to offer 200K baby and kids products across 2,000 brands.

FirstCry entered the unicorn club in 2020 after raising $296 Mn in its Series E round from Japan’s SoftBank. 

FirstCry’s Planning For IPO Debut  

FirstCry is eyeing an IPO this year and has already roped in Kotak Mahindra, and Morgan Stanley, among others. 

The kids’ marketplace would be the first startup in the space to go for an IPO. Earlier attempts by kids wear brands Gini & Jony and Lilliput have seen them fall flat, with no result.

The ecommerce startup, which was supposed to receive investment from India’s sovereign fund National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) called off the deal a few days back. NIIF was supposed to buy SoftBank’s shares in FirstCry. Now Premji Invest is expected to step in and buy stakes at a $2.7 Bn to $3 Bn valuation. 

In February 2022, NIIF received a CCI nod to pump $100 Mn into Supam Maheshwari’s kids’ product marketplace. Its existing investor SoftBank has offloaded a part of its shareholding and still retains 30% of the company.

Meanwhile, in the kids and infant category, FirstCry competes with a slew of brands, including Hopscotch, BabyMori, Shumee and Kids Stop Press among others. 

According to Statista, the kids wear segment was estimated to reach nearly INR 1.7 Tn in sales by 2028.