Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has invested $13 million (Rs 90
crore) in Hopscotch, a Mumbai-based online retailer of babycare and
children's products amid a wave of consolidation in the segment with
several companies closing as others seek buyers.
Saverin had invested $11 million in the company a year ago, marking his debut in India. Singapore-based Saverin, with a net worth of $6.5 billion, has been a prolific angel investor in technology startups in Southeast Asia and North America in the past few years. He is also chairman of the advisory board at Velos Partners, which primarily invests in consumer and technology companies.
"Hopscotch's steadfast focus on this vision has paid off, resulting in an exponential growth of over 700% year on year," Saverin said in an email.
"The market opportunity is massive and Hopscotch is still in its nascent stage."
The money will be used to augment the customer base by adding products and features.
"The team is frugal, cost conscious, and persistently focused on continuing to deliver strong unit economics while investing in scaling the business," he said.
While the children's apparel market in the country is pegged at Rs 95,000 crore and expanding at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20%, it is still largely controlled by unbranded units.
Unlike other online companies such as Amazon and Flipkart that get the bulk of their segment revenue from diapers and baby accessories, Hopscotch focuses on lifestyle products that offer significantly higher margins and a bigger basket size.
"We are into highly differentiated lifestyle categories and not low-margin ones," said Rahul Anand, who founded Hopscotch in 2012. "While others indulge in price wars that evaporate profit, we are investing in technology that will help expand our consumer base."
The company also counts Singapore-based Lion Rock Capital and individuals such as Nisaba Godrej, Diapers.com CTO Wei Yan and Annus as early investors. The company, which has expanded its technology team to 50 over the past nine months, expects to break even by the end of 2016.
Rivals such as Firstcry and Babyoye follow the inventory and catalogue model to reach customers, while Hopscotch has a flash sales model, sourcing nearly 3,000 brands. A third of its sales come from private-label brands.
Saverin had invested $11 million in the company a year ago, marking his debut in India. Singapore-based Saverin, with a net worth of $6.5 billion, has been a prolific angel investor in technology startups in Southeast Asia and North America in the past few years. He is also chairman of the advisory board at Velos Partners, which primarily invests in consumer and technology companies.
"Hopscotch's steadfast focus on this vision has paid off, resulting in an exponential growth of over 700% year on year," Saverin said in an email.
"The market opportunity is massive and Hopscotch is still in its nascent stage."
The money will be used to augment the customer base by adding products and features.
"The team is frugal, cost conscious, and persistently focused on continuing to deliver strong unit economics while investing in scaling the business," he said.
While the children's apparel market in the country is pegged at Rs 95,000 crore and expanding at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20%, it is still largely controlled by unbranded units.
Unlike other online companies such as Amazon and Flipkart that get the bulk of their segment revenue from diapers and baby accessories, Hopscotch focuses on lifestyle products that offer significantly higher margins and a bigger basket size.
"We are into highly differentiated lifestyle categories and not low-margin ones," said Rahul Anand, who founded Hopscotch in 2012. "While others indulge in price wars that evaporate profit, we are investing in technology that will help expand our consumer base."
The company also counts Singapore-based Lion Rock Capital and individuals such as Nisaba Godrej, Diapers.com CTO Wei Yan and Annus as early investors. The company, which has expanded its technology team to 50 over the past nine months, expects to break even by the end of 2016.
Rivals such as Firstcry and Babyoye follow the inventory and catalogue model to reach customers, while Hopscotch has a flash sales model, sourcing nearly 3,000 brands. A third of its sales come from private-label brands.
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