FirstCry.com Files Draft Red Herring Prospectus with SEBI for IPO

MUMBAI: FirstCry.com, India’s largest multi-channel retailing platform for Mothers’, Babies’, and Kids’ products, has filed it’s Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering. The company plans to raise INR 18,160.00 million through a fresh issue of equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 54,391,592 equity shares by selling shareholders. The funds raised will be utilized for business expansion in India and international markets, setting up new modern stores and warehouses, and funding sales and marketing initiatives, technology, and data science costs, among others.

FirstCry.com was launched in India in 2010 and has since become a one-stop destination for parenting needs across commerce, content, community engagement, and education. The platform offers more than one million SKUs from over 6,800 brands, including prominent third-party Indian and global brands, and its home brands. As of June 30, 2023, the company has a network of 936 FirstCry and BabyHug modern stores in 465 cities in 27 states and four union territories across India, with over 1.76 million square feet of retail space.

The key competitive strengths are as follows:

• FirstCry is India’s largest multi-channel, multi-brand retailing platform for Mothers’, Babies’ and Kids’ products. The platform has powerful network effects driven by content, brands, and data. They are India’s largest multi-channel, multi-brand retailing platform for Mothers’, Babies’ and Kids’ Products;
• The platform has powerful network effects driven by content, brands and data;
• Brand affinity, loyalty, and trust of customers in the FirstCry brand;
• Combination of curating growing home brands and relationships with prominent third-party brands;
• The technology and data-driven, personalized customer journey has led to higher customer engagement;
• Full-stack platform with control over manufacturing and supply chain;
• Proven and scalable business model

The DRHP highlights FirstCry.com’s strong domain expertise in the parenting community, education, and targeted audiences, making it one of the rare new-age tech companies to be profitable for three consecutive years in their core business, exclusive of ESOP benefits. The company’s key competitive strengths include its powerful network effects driven by content, brands, and data, brand affinity, loyalty, and trust of customers, and a proven and scalable business model.

FirstCry is India’s largest multi-channel retailing platform for Mothers’, Babies’ and Kids’ products, in terms of GMV, for the year ending December 2022.  The business has demonstrated revenue growth from FY21 to FY23.  For FY21, FY22, FY23 and the three months ended June 30, 2023, the revenue from operations was ₹16,028.54 million, ₹24,012.88 million, ₹56,325.39 million, and ₹14,069.33 million, respectively, in accordance with the Restated Consolidated Financial Statements. This increase in revenue from operations is as a result of both organic and inorganic growth.

The marquee DOA holders of FirstCry.com include Madhu Silica Private Limited, Nirmala Govindan, OMEZ Real Estate LLP, PAM Family Trust, and Shradha Family Trust, among others. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited, BofA Securities India Limited, JM Financial Limited, and Avendus Capital Private Limited are the Book Running Lead Managers to the issue.

FirstCry.com’s DRHP filing for its initial public offering is a significant milestone for the company, which has established itself as India’s largest multi-channel retailing platform for Mothers’, Babies’, and Kids’ products. The funds raised through the IPO will enable the company to expand its business in India and international markets and continue to provide a one-stop destination for parenting needs.

DRHP Link: https://www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/msdotcom/en/indiaofferdocuments/pdfs/Brainbees_Solutions_Limited-Draft_Red_Herring_Prospectus.pdf