Hopscotch Raises $20 Mn Led by Amazon to Further Grow Its Marquee Kids Fashion Brand

Hopscotch, a brand for kids' fashion, has announced that its parent company, Hit the Mark, Inc., raised $20 million in a funding round led by Amazon. The round also included participation from Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, as well as other existing investors, including Lionrock, IIFL Seed Venture Fund, RPG Ventures, and Techpro Ventures. The funding will enable Hopscotch to expand its offerings and serve even more customers with the latest styles in kids' fashion.

"Hopscotch is the go-to digital brand for parents who want their kids to look stylish - everyday and on every special occasion," said Rahul Anand, Founder and CEO of Hopscotch. "This investment allows us to invest in marketing, broaden our selection, and enable more customers to express their unique sense of style."

“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 out the brand. We have been impressed to see what they have done till date”, said Preetham N, Director, Corporate Development at Amazon.

The $20 million funding round is a testament to the strength of Hit the Mark's technology platform, which enables Hopscotch to rapidly spot top fashion trends and serve them to customers before other retailers. With financial support from Amazon and other investors, Hopscotch is well-positioned to accelerate growth and increase its market share.

About Hopscotch:

Hopscotch.in is a leading digital destination for kids' fashion, offering a seamless online shopping experience to parents who want their kids to look stylish every day and on every special occasion. With its vertically integrated technology platform, Hopscotch identifies top fashion trends and delivers the latest styles to customers before other retailers.

Facebook Co-Founder's B Capital Group Closes $820 Mn 2nd Fund to Invest in Growth-Stage startups

B Capital Group, a VC fund founded by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Ex-Bain Capital executive Raj Ganguly, has announced the close of its second fund, an $820 million vehicle, to invest in growth-stage startups .

Launched five years ago (2014), B Capital now has total assets under management at $1.44 billion, with close of its second fund.

The San Francisco headquartered B Capital Group invests in B2B and B2B2C companies in Enterprise technology (including SaaS, infrastructure AI/ML and security), Fintech, Healthcare Tech, Consumer enablement technology, and Transportation and Logistics.

B Capital typically invests between $10 and $60 million in companies at Series B, C and D stages that are positioned for rapid expansion.

In most recent investments by B Capital bringing several new companies to the portfolio, the firm invested in Synack, a crowdsourced cybersecurity testing platform powered by the world’s most skilled ethical hackers, and Khatabook, the Bangalore-based startup that digitizes local businesses through bookkeeping and online payments.

Last year in April, B Capital invested in Bangalore-based Wicked Ride Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd, which operates 'Bounce' app, an online rental service for scooters and motorcycles. In the same month, the firm had closed $406 Million Fund.

Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin's VC Firm B Capital Group Raises $406 Mn for New Fund

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s global venture capital firm B Capital Group, which has also backed India-focused startups including packaging solutions startup Bizongo, mobile point-of-sale service provider Mswipe, logistics startup Blackbuck, and global contract management firm Icertis, has raised $406 million as the first closing of its second fund, showed documents filed on Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

California-based B Capital’s new round was raised from 62 investors since 22nd March 2019, according to the filing seen by Financial Express Online.

B Capital, which focuses on Asia, reportedly closed its first fund at $360 million in February last year. The Boston Consulting Group-backed B Capital invests in business-to-business startups across four areas — financial services, health and wellness, industrial and transportation and consumer enablement. The fund has so far invested in 19 companies globally, as per information on its website.

B Capital usually invests up to $20 million in Series B and C rounds and has offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Singapore.

“We are excited to build a different type of digital technology investment firm. We are unified in our belief that all ideas matter, but that good ideas with powerful execution create greater impact than powerful ideas with only good execution,” said Raj Ganguly, Cofounder and Partner, B Capital Group in a LinkedIn post last year.

B Capital had reportedly invested Rs 220 crore in Ratan Tata-backed Mswipe in March this year along with Falcon Edge, Epiq Capital, and DSG Consumer Partners.

“Mswipe’s solution provides SMEs an enhanced POS experience. The Mswipe product is a combination of great hardware and software that is capable of supporting all forms of payments, from traditional credit & debit card to digital payment modes in India like UPI, Google Tez, PhonePe, Bharat QR, and BHIM,” said Saverin in a LinkedIn post. B Capital had backed Mswipe in 2017 as well.

B Capital also counts SilverCloud, Myia, Atomwise, Lanetix, CXA Group among its global portfolio companies.

The above news was first published at Financial Express.

Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Backs First Indian Startup; Lead Funding in Mswipe

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is participating in a $40 million Series D round of funding in Mswipe Technologies marking his first foray into the India startup market.

With this investment, Saverin will join the company’s board and work with its management on expansion.

Saverin’s B Capital Group and DSG Consumer Partners are leading the funding round of mSwipe, along with other participants that include Ratan Tata’s UC-RNT Fund, Matrix Partners India and Falcon Edge Capital.

Mumbai headquartered Mswipe is an independent merchant acquirer and Point of Sale (POS) network provider,

Mswipe’s platform enables merchants to accept digital payments like UPI, Google Tez, PhonePe, Bharat QR and BHIM as well as credit card payments. It claims to be India’s largest independent merchant acquirer and point-of-sale network provider with 280,000 terminals across 650 cities and towns.

Eduardo Saverin is a Brazilian-born billionaire who, after relocating to Singapore in 2009, started his second innings as a venture capitalist by co-founding a VC firm called B Capital Group. He has has a net worth of $9.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Previously, he had drawn attention for disputes with Mark Zuckerberg, depicted in the movie “The Social Network,” and his renunciation of U.S. citizenship, which was criticized as tax dodge.

Facebook Co-Founder invest $11 million In Mumbai based Etailer Hopscotch

Hopscotch, the Mumbai based babycare and kids products etailer, has raised $11 million in a Series B round of funding led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Los Angeles headquartered early stage investor Velos Capital.

Other investors in the latest round of funding include Rise Capital, Jabbar Internet Group along with existing investors Toivo Annus and LionRock Capital.

"I have been actively following the Indian Internet market, and I am thrilled to make my first direct investment in India in a company of the calibre of Hopscotch.in. The company’s early track record in the large and growing Indian e-commerce market combined with team’s experience, energy and vision makes this an intriguing investment opportunity," Mr. Savemand, who will join the company’s board as an observer, said in a statement.

Hopscotch, which sells products for infants and kids, will use the funds primarily to build operational capacity and technology, which would expand its product and service offering. Hopscotch websitie features over 1,000 local and international brands across multiple product categories, including apparel, shoes, toys and accessories.

"The latest round of funding will enable us to ramp up marketing, add more product categories and build out the senior management team," said Hopscotch founder and CEO Rahul Anand.

The investment in Hopscotch marks Facebook's co-founder Saverin and Velos Partners' debut investment in India. Singapore-based Saverin, whose net worth at the time of the 2012 Facebook IPO was estimated at $4.2 billion, has been a prolific angel investor in technology startups in Southeast Asia and North America over the past few years.

Mumbai-based Hopscotch has already been backed by Adi Godrej’s younger daughter Nisaba Godrej (in her personal capacity), Skype co-founder Toivo Annus and Singapore-based LionRock Capital.