ITC to acquire 10% stake in Blupin Tech

New Delhi: Diversified entity ITC on Thursday said it will acquire 10.07 per cent stake in Blupin Technologies, the company behind direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, Mylo for up to Rs 39.34 crore.

The investment in Mylo is part of a $17 million (nearly Rs 130 crore) raised by Blupin Technologies in a Series B funding round led by W Health Ventures, a US-based digital health investor and Endiya Partners, besides ITC. Other investors who took part in the round include Riverwalk Holdings, Alteria Capital, and Innoven Capital. ITC said in a regulatory filing its investment in Mylo will provide it an early mover advantage in the evolving content-to-community-to-commerce space and will provide an expanded presence in the D2C space. Blupin Technologies is a web and app-based content-to-community-to-commerce platform and offers mother and baby care products and services under brand name 'Mylo'. It is focused on the parenting journey of young families, it added. The cost of acquisition will not exceed Rs 39.34 crore, the filing said. "With this investment, ITC will further expand its presence in the D2C mother and baby care segment," the company said.

Commenting on the acquisition, ITC Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, Sameer Satpathy said, within a short period of time, Mylo has demonstrated great potential in the evolving content-to-community-to-commerce model by nurturing an online platform where people learn, share, trust and belong. "The investment will provide ITC the opportunity to foray into this emerging space and become an integral part of the evolution of this area," he added. He further said, the investment in Mylo will also enable ITC to strengthen focus in the mother and baby community building platform, besides expanding its presence in the D2C mother and child care segment.

Blupin Technologies Founder and CEO Vinit Garg said in a separate statement, "The investment will help us build the Mylo brand, scale our community, products verticals and launch our digital health solutions for mothers."