The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a sovereign wealth fund in India, led a secondary funding round worth $240 million in ecommerce firm FirstCry with purchase of $100 million in its stocks, wagering for the first time on the nation’s internet economy.

During the new funding round, Premji Invest – existing investor of the Pune-based e-commerce firm– bought additional company shares, whereas SoftBank sold out largest portion of its shares.

Additionally, Chiratae Ventures and Newquest Capital Partners sold bits of their holding in the company during the new round.

Despite selling significant share in FirstCry, SoftBank still retains 30% in the parent company of FirstCry, Brainbees Solutions even after the funding.

Accounting for majority of secondary financing, NIIF and Premji Invest have been accompanied with several new investors joining the cohort, whose names are yet to be disclosed.

As a part of a secondary transaction, new investors typically purchase shares from the existing investors and the money does not become a part of company asset.

It has been reported that NIIF started pursuing investment in the SoftBank-backed FirstCry last year and eventually the deal came to fruition after receiving approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Earlier last year, FirstCry led a secondary share sale of $315 million and considering the recent sale of shares, the company has altogether observed investor exits of $555 million in a span of one year.

While many investors contributed to a partial exit during the share sale round, SoftBank alone accounted for 50%-60% of sale.

In last year and a half, FirstCry has only been able to generate minor primary capital worth $15 million.

The government led fund oversees capital commitments of more than $4.5 billion, distributed across three funds including Fund of Funds, Master Fund and Strategic Opportunities Fund.

With the recent investment in FirstCry, NIIF aims to boost foreseeable investment opportunities and exposure in the space of digital economy.

Source Credit: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/indias-sovereign-wealth-fund-invests-in-firstcry-softbank-others-offload-stake-in-secondary-deal/articleshow/89300613.cms