Tuesday, March 19

Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin invested in Mumbai Based Startup

Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook has invested $13 million (around Rs. 90 crore) in Hopscotch, a Mumbai-based online retailer in a Series C round. Hopscotch is an E-commerce service, focusing on Kids Fashion Wear.

Hopscotch is the same company that secured $11 Million funding last year in a Series B round led by Saverin’s Velos Partners. It is the first Indian Company in which Saverin has invested so far.

Saverin rose to fame via his involvement in Facebook, which ultimately ended in 2005 when Mark Zuckerberg diluted his shares. After that he settled in Singapore with his newly wed family and now with a net worth of $6.5 billion, he has been a prolific angel investor in technology startups in Southeast Asia and North America in the past few years. He is also chairman of the advisory board at Velos Partners, which primarily invests in consumer and technology companies.

The news was first reported by Economic Times here.

Hopscotch was founded by Rahul Anand and Lisa Kennedy in 2012. Rahul and Lisa are MBA graduates from Harvard Business School and Rahul did BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Michigan. He started his journey of entrepreneurship by his company called Diapers.com which was soon acquired by Amazon in 2011. He holds an experience of working with big firms like Skanan Ltd, Dell, Optiant and Honeywell Aerospace.

“We are excited to have Eduardo on our board, who will work in tandem with us and continue providing Indian moms with the best for their kids. With invaluable insights and experience, it is reassuring to have him as an investor. This announcement marks a new milestone in Hopscotch’s journey to be the iconic destination for moms,” Rahul said.

Unlike other E-commerce companies like Flipkart or Amazon, Hopscotch focuses on generating revenue by taking a larger profit margin. With the investment, the company will focus on its technological development.