Ranjan Pai, Chairman of Manipal Group, is in advanced stages of talks to pick up a stake in SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm FirstCry, The Economic Times reported on Monday, citing multiple people aware of the matter.
Pai is expected to invest around Rs 250 crore in FirstCry as part of a broader secondary share sale at the e-commerce firm at a valuation of close to $3 billion, the report said.
Other institutional investors are also in the process of picking up a secondary stake in the Pune-based firm from existing shareholders.
“The total share sale would be around $50-60 million, or close to Rs 500 crore, and Pai is expected to put in Rs 250 crore,” the report said.
Founded in 2015 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, FirstCry has raised over $960 million from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Temasek, Chiratae Ventures, Vertex Ventures, and Elevation Capital, according to Tracxn.
The firm is expected to go public next year.
This comes as Pai is also reportedly in talks to invest in edtech firm BYJU’S and healthtech firm PharmEasy.
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