FirstCry parent cuts quarterly loss; Pro gear for India’s content creators

Hello,

The IPO waters are warm; step in.

Jeweller brand Bluestone had a successful close to its initial public offering, with its issue oversubscribed by 2.7X. It defied trends as the demand was largely led by qualified institutional buyers, with their portion oversubscribed 4.28 times. Typically, the institutional participation peaks closer to the close of the offer.

The interest in a public listing is growing. 

AI and analytics solutions provider Fractal has filed its DRHP with SEBI to raise up to Rs 4,900 crore through an IPO. The offer will include a fresh share issuance of Rs 1,279 crore, alongside an offer-for-sale from existing investors amounting to Rs 3,621 crore.

Meanwhile, retail and ecommerce enablement SaaS firm Unicommerce has completed a year on the bourses. The company also reported a 63.6% YoY increase in revenue in Q1, and its international business achieved operational profitability.

In other news, the food delivery space has some exciting developments.

It’s raining money at Zepto, as the quick commerce unicorn closed a Rs 400 crore funding round from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. This comes after it raised $350 million last year.

Also, ride-hailing platform Rapido has launched its standalone food delivery app, Ownly, on Google’s Play Store, positioning itself as a zero-commission platform.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• FirstCry parent’s quarterly loss narrows
• Pro gear for India’s content creators
• Treebo’s path to profitability

Here’s your trivia for today: Which country has the largest flag flown on a flagpole?

Ecommerce

FirstCry parent’s quarterly loss narrows

Brainbees Solutions, the parent company of FirstCry, saw its topline marginally shrink on a sequential basis as the company significantly reduced its losses from the previous quarter. 

The Pune-headquartered multi-channel retailer posted a 12.7% year-on-year rise in consolidated revenue from operations to Rs 1,862 crore in the June quarter, compared with Rs 1,652 crore in the same period last year.

Key takeaways:

• BrainBees owns and operates kids and mother care brands FirstCry and BabyHug, as well as the house of brands GlobalBees Brands.
• Its bottomline improved on a quarterly basis, with losses attributable to shareholders narrowing from Rs 75 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25 to Rs 47.8 crore in Q1 FY26.
• ​Brainbees said it will invest Rs 19.96 crore in Globalbees Brands, according to a regulatory filing. The move follows a Rs 73 crore tranche in April that raised Brainbees’ stake in Globalbees from 50.73% to 51.12%.

Funding Alert

Startup: Zepto

Amount: Rs 400 Cr

Round: Undisclosed

Startup: Arintra

Amount: $21M

Round: Series A

Startup: Refold AI

Amount: $6.5M

Round: Seed

Startup

Pro gear for India’s content creators

StudioBackdrops has made it its mission to empower and enable India’s creator economy. From seasoned industry professionals to Instagram creators, it offers professional studio equipment to help produce high-quality content without high costs.

Like and subscribe:

• Founded in 2016, the company was established after founder and CEO Archisman Misra, a photographer and creator, faced a lack of good professional equipment at affordable prices in India.
• The company offers over 6,500 SKUs ranging from lighting equipment, audio tools, and studio gear to fabric and paper backdrops.
• StudioBackdrops has fulfilled orders in remote towns with no standard logistics coverage, using creative workarounds like sending a dedicated vehicle to the nearest hub and managing last-mile delivery.

Interview

Treebo’s path to profitability

Treebo Hospitality Ventures (THV) has had a journey marked by turning points—each one nudging the company toward resilience, innovation, and a growing share of India’s fragmented hospitality sector. 

In a conversation with YourStory, Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder of THV, walks through the company’s biggest pivots—from near-collapse to profitability, and from budget focus to a full-fledged mid-market expansion.

News & updates

• AI framework: A Reserve Bank of India committee has recommended a framework for developing AI capabilities for the country's financial sector, while safeguarding it against associated risks, according to a report released on Wednesday.
• Cryptocrash: A South Korean former tech executive accused of helping spark a cryptocurrency crisis that cost investors more than $40 billion has pleaded guilty to two criminal counts of fraud. Do Kwon was the boss of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, which operated two cryptocurrencies—TerraUSD and Luna—both of which collapsed in 2022.
• Ethereum: Standard Chartered raised its year-end target for ether to $7,500 from $4,000 on Wednesday, citing improvement in industry engagement and uptick in holdings of the cryptocurrency in recent months.

Which country has the largest flag flown on a flagpole?

Answer: Azerbaijan, with a state flag measuring 2,564.02 square meters.

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