Japanese investment powerhouse SoftBank is exploring a $200 million investment in Pune-based baby and mother care portal FirstCry.
If the deal goes through, it will value FirstCry at about $800-900 million, a nearly 100% increase from its current valuation of $350 million. FirstCry retails baby care products both online and offline.
A person aware of the discussions said, "The talks are at an advanced stage and a deal may close before the end of the year."
FirstCry was founded by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, and began its operations in 2010. It offers different categories of Baby and Kids products from clothing to school essentials from global brands like Funskool, Hotwheels, Nuby, Farlin, Medela, Pampers, Disney etc.