SoftBank invests $150mn in FirstCry

Pune-based Brainbees Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which operates online-first baby products retailer FirstCry, has raised $149.36 million (Rs 1,096.94 crore) as part of the first tranche of a new funding round from Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, filings with the Registrar of Companies show. The investment is part of a larger round in which FirstCry is raising around $396.34 million (Rs 2,825 crore) from SoftBank's $93-billion Vision Fund in two tranches, the filings stated. The company secured the current tranche by issuing shares at a higher subscription price and the remaining $246.82 million (Rs 1,759.29 crore) will likely be raised by issuing shares at a lower subscription price, according to a preliminary inference made from the filings. As per estimates, the company raised the first $150-million tranche at a valuation of $850 million (Rs 6,057.58 crore). The entire round is likely to value FirstCry between $975 million and $1.09 billion (Rs 6,950 crore and Rs 7,816. 87 crore), potentially making it the latest entrant to the hallowed unicorn club-a private company valued at more than $1 billion. The filings stated that the round set the company's pre-money valuation at around $450 million and its post-money valuation will increase by more than two times. FirstCry has been in talks to raise capital since September 2017 from multiple investors, including Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings.