When Anand Mahindra decided to 'support' FirstCry than 'fight it'
FirstCry and Anand Mahindra's Mahindra Partners, which owned Baby Oye and Mom & Me, were almost rivals at time.
However, almost eight years ago, that is in October 2016, Mahindra joined hands with FirstCry founder Supam Maheshwari, deciding to 'support' him rather than 'fight him'.
On Tuesday, FirstCry, an e-commerce giant in baby care segment, made it's D-Street debut. It was listed at Rs 651 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), as against an offer price of Rs 465.
Speaking at the listing ceremony, Mahindra, 69, had a little anecdote emphasizing the pride his Group takes in its stake in the Maheshwari-led startup.
Mahindra highlighted how the creation of Mahindra Partners in 2010 was born out of a desire to infuse a startup mentality into the Mahindra Group and was tasked with investing in and incubating companies in emerging fields, a mandate that set the stage for its involvement with FirstCry, Anand Mahindra said.
«They would of course have to do that while competing with a variety of startups, and frankly nobody is betting on the large companies, as you know. So, I asked one of my colleagues Zhooben Bhiwandiwala and another colleague Parag Shah to join. Zhooben as senior Managing Director of the company and then Parag as the Managing Director,» he added.
Mahindra highlighted several key ventures by Mahindra Partners, including the transformation of Mahindra Logistics and the successful entry into the renewable energy sector with Mahindra Susten. He also noted the evolution of Mahindra Accelo from a
