FirstCry Startup Story
The appeal of online purchasing would have been unfathomable to kids in the 1990s. Nobody predicted that e-commerce would change the way people buy things. Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha established FirstCry in 2010 to provide baby care products to the masses, taking the online shopping spree one step further.
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About
FirstCry is an online-to-offline brand that sells a variety of products for newborns, children, and mothers. The company was founded to address the issue of millions of Indian parents not having access to the top brands and baby care items for their children. Diapers, feeding and breastfeeding, skin and health care, toys, apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, and much more are among the product categories available at firstcry.com.
More than 90,000 goods from over 1200 foreign and Indian companies are available on Firstcry.com. Some of the brands are Mattel, Ben10, Pigeon, Funskool, Hotwheels, Nuby, Farlin, Medela, Pampers, Disney, Barbie, Gerber, and Fisher-Price.
The company offers the best products and brands at reasonable costs, as well as a great online shopping experience, quick and dependable delivery, and friendly customer support.
Founders/Owners and Team of FirstCry
Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha launched FirstCry.
Supam Maheshwari, the CEO, and co-founder of FirstCry is an IIM Ahmedabad graduate and a Delhi College of Engineering engineer. He co-founded XpressBees, one of India’s leading logistics companies, as a first-generation entrepreneur. Supam was the co-founder and CEO of Brainvisa Technologies, one of India’s leading e-learning companies, before founding FirstCry.
Amitava Saha, FirstCry’s COO and co-founder, holds a master’s degree from IIM Lucknow and a bachelor’s degree from IIT Varanasi. Supam and Saha collaborated on the launch of XpressBees. Following the success of XpressBees, they teamed together for another intriguing project, FirstCry. It is India’s most comprehensive online store for baby care supplies.
How did FirstCry come to be?
The seeds were planted in 2010 when the number of possibilities for purchasing baby care and children’s products online in India was exceedingly restricted. Supam, the co-founder and owner of FirstCry, would buy stuff for his son when on business visits to different nations. As a result of the circumstance, he realized there was a significant market opportunity in India for an online platform that would provide Indian parents with access to the greatest baby care brands from across the world. Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha founded FirstCry in this manner.
Introducing FirstCry, a new startup.
Initially, FirstCry operated on an inventory-based approach, with products being shipped across the country from its warehouses in Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata. After a few years, FirstCry began to add retailers to its platform and offered local businesses the option to sell their products on the company’s website.
BabyHug, a clothing line for babies and children, and CuteWalk, a footwear line, are two of the company’s private brands. FirstCry has over 350 franchised brick-and-mortar shops in over 100 Indian locations, making it one of the largest online shopping platforms for kids.
Business and Revenue Models for FirstCry
FirstCry operates on a hybrid business model that comprises both online and offline businesses. Apart from its extensive online presence, the company operates over 400 stores in India, including 350 franchise locations. FirstCry has a unique program in which it distributes a ‘FirstCry Box’ to over 70,000 parents each month.
As a symbol of congratulations on the birth of their child, this initiative provides free gift boxes to new parents in 6,000 hospitals across the country. The gift includes essentials such as diapers, baby lotion, and baby oil from well-known brands such as Mamy Poko and Libero. So far, FirstCry has reached out to millions of Indian parents through this campaign.
Startup Challenges – FirstCry
In India, the baby-care market is enormous and promising. The problem, though, is that the market is quite disorganized.
Consumer relevance is critical, just as it is for any other firm. As a result, the FirstCry team must stay on its toes in order to offer new and intriguing initiatives for its customers.
Valuation of FirstCry
FirstCry has a market capitalization of $1.9 billion and is one of India’s newest unicorns. It’s worth noting that the projected value is based on FirstCry’s forecasts, and there’s no new valuation report to back up the unicorn claims. Pi Ventures’ opportunity fund I have invested roughly $315 million in Firstcry, valuing the baby products company at around $1.9 billion. TPG, ChrysCapital, and Premji Invest – have invested around $315 million in Firstcry, valuing the baby products company at around $1.9 billion.
FirstCry – Revenue and Growth
FirstCry claims to be Asia’s largest online baby and children’s store.
FirstCry’s FY20 revenue increased by 65.8% year over year, from $73.59 million (INR 535 crore) in FY 2019 to $122.07 million (INR 887.5 crore) in FY 2020.
FirstCry made $73.5 million in revenue in the fiscal year 2019. (INR 535 Cr). Revenue increased by 48.03 percent in FY 2018 from $33.06 million (INR 240 crore) in FY17 to $48.84 million in FY18 (INR 355.2 Cr).
FirstCry has over 6,000 brands and over 200,000 distinct products. The company has grown at an exponential rate.
It has almost 400 offline locations throughout India.
‘FirstCry parenting’ is India’s largest community of parents. It sees around 13 million unique users every month and the overall engagement on the platform stands at 92 million users per month.
The FirstCry app has more than 10 million downloads on Google Play Store and App Store.
Competitors – FirstCry
The firm has a substantial market presence. To some extent, FirstCry and newborn care have become synonymous. As a result, while FirstCry does not face direct competition, internet portals like Myntra and Amazon may represent a threat to the company’s online presence. Local vendors and entrepreneurs may compete with FirstCry’s offline outlets.
