Baby-care app Kiddo raises $1.3M pre-seed to build vertical quick commerce
What's the deal? Kiddo, a Bangalore-based quick-commerce app for baby care, has raised a US$1.7M pre-seed round led by Campus FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → with participation from strategic angels. The company embeds life-stage guidance into shopping for young parents.
What's the endgame? Kiddo wants to become the default platform for baby-care purchases in urban India. It targets the country's $31 billion baby-care market, which is projected to reach $56 billion by 2029 at a 13 to 14% CAGR.
Who's behind it? Founder and chief executive officer Ankit Kawatra earlier built Feeding IndiaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a food-recovery network acquired by Zomato in 2019 — the first acquisition of a nonprofit in India. He then served as a director at Zomato through its IPO.
Where's the money going? The funds will support customer acquisition, dark-store expansion across Delhi NCR, technology and product development, and hiring. Kiddo starts with high-income parents in Delhi NCR and plans to open multiple dark stores by year end.
Why now? Existing horizontal quick-commerce players carry limited relevant SKUs for parents, and much of the sector remains unorganised. Kiddo has curated over 30,000 SKUs across essentials and fashion.
“Today, we're getting hundreds of types of chips and sodas in minutes, yet the sleep-deprived young mothers and fathers in Tier 1 India have to rely on multiple platforms that take days to serve them,” said Kawatra.
The signal: Investors are betting curation and trust can carve a niche that horizontal giants cannot. Campus Fund founder and chief executive officer Richa Bajpai pointed to a wider shift: roughly 65% of FirstCry's revenues already come from own and white-label brands, signalling appetite for entrants competing on product value over established brand equity.
Read more: businesswireindia.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
