Online kids’ apparel retailer Hopscotch on Wednesday (May 24) said its parent company Hit the Mark, Inc. raised $20 Mn in a funding round led by Amazon. 

The funding round also saw participation from Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin and existing investors like Lionrock, IIFL Seed Venture Fund, RPG Ventures, and Techpro Ventures, the startup said in a statement

Hopscotch said it would use the fresh funding to expand its offerings and cater to more customers with the latest styles in kids’ fashion. 

“This investment allows us to invest in marketing, broaden our selection, and enable more customers to express their unique sense of style,” Rahul Anand, founder and CEO of Hopscotch, said.

Commenting on the funding, Preetham N, director of corporate development at Amazon, said, “Hopscotch has strong brand recall in the kids’ category. With this investment, we are happy to work with Hopscotch as it continues to reach and delight more customers. Rahul, the founder, and his management team are passionate about building out the brand. We have been impressed to see what they have done till date.” 

Founded by Rahul Anand and Lisa Kennedy in 2011, Hopscotch sells multi-category baby products online. Its catalog includes tops, dresses, toys, skincare products, sneakers, sandals, among others.

In 2020, Hopscotch raised $25 Mn from Saverin’s investment arm EE Capital, Lionrock Capital, Rise Capital, RPG Ventures and IIFL Seed Ventures Fund.

The startup has raised $52.8 Mn to date. It competes with the likes of Pune-based unicorn Firstcry and Dia-Mirza backed sustainable baby apparel brand Greendigo.

The kids apparel market caters to children between 0 to 14 years of age. According to a report, India’s kids apparel market reached a size of $ 21.1 Bn in 2022 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 2.6% to $24.5 Bn by 2028. 

India, where it is one of the major ecommerce players, along with Flipkart, is one of the priority markets for Amazon. The US-based ecommerce giant has invested in various Indian startups over the last few years. 

Amazon also launched Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund in 2021 to invest in early-stage Indian startups. The fund has so far invested in startups such as house of brands unicorn The Good Glamm Group and investment tech startup smallcase. The fund has also expanded its focus to invest in sectors like healthtech, gaming, electric vehicles, among others.

Earlier this month, Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund invested in D2C menswear brand XYXX.