Hopscotch, a D2C Indian kid’s wear brand recently acquired a total of $20 million from Amazon, the US-based global e-commerce giant.
With its headquarters in Mumbai, Hopscotch is one of the top competitors in the industry akin to other brands such as FirstCry, Greendigo, LuvLap, etc. One of the oldest players in the kids apparel industry, the business has grown from Rs. 100 crore to Rs.500 crore in the last 5 years.
The Indian e-commerce market, one of the strongest in the world after China, still saw a 63% dip in 2022. Amidst such funding shortages and the pandemic, Amazon launched the $250 million worth of Amazon Smbhav Fund in 2021.
IIFL Seed Venture Fund, RPG Ventures, Lionrock, and Techpro Ventures, who have previously invested in the startup in 2020 participated in the funding round.
The start-up has gained traction in a variety of online marketplaces, providing clothes, shoes, and accessories ranging from party-wear, casual, sportswear, and formals for girls and boys between the age ranges of 0-14. It also has an app that has around 700,000 monthly users.
It was founded to provide Indian parents access to kids’ fashion at affordable rates. A very modern take on kids’ apparel, Hopscotch has recognized the increasing exposure of children to social media and how it affects their personality, dressing sense, and aspirations.
It has a Vogue-like approach to kids’ wear, showcasing outfits based upon the latest trends that adults are usually influenced by, such as Barbie-core, mermaid-core, color-blocking, etc. It is also catering to the rapidly growing demand of occasion-specific clothing for kids.
Hopscotch today launches 500 new and trendy items daily, from price ranges starting as low as Rs.199.
In a statement, the CEO and founder, Rahul Anand said, “Hopscotch plans to expand its operations and be able to offer the latest trends in kids’ wear. This funding will be used primarily to broaden the selection, focus on marketing and enable more customers to express their unique style.”
Considering that the kids’ wear market in India is nearly 20 percent of the total apparel market, and is dominated by unorganized businesses- the funding is a welcome change to what could escalate the already booming industry. Hopscotch has a pan-India consumer base with the majority of revenue from Tier 2/3 cities.
Preetham N, director of corporate development at Amazon, said, “Hopscotch has strong brand recall in the kids’ category.
With this investment, we are happy to work with Hopscotch as it continues to reach and delight more customers. Rahul, the founder, and his management team are passionate about building the brand. We have been impressed to see what they have done to date.”
Amazon has recently invested in other Indian e-commerce ventures including The Good Glam group and FreshToHome. It has also invested in startups such as MyGlamm, Smallcase, and Cashify.
