Philippine parenting-focused ecommerce firm secures $5m in pre-series A money

Philippine-based startup Edamama, an ecommerce platform catered to mothers, said it has raised US$5 million in pre-series A money.

The round was led by the newly launched Gentree Fund, together with Foxmont Capital Partners, Robinsons Retail, and Kickstart Ventures (a wholly owned subsidiary of local telco Globe Telecom).

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Edamama currently offers several products through its platforms, including a gift registry feature and Subscribe and Save, an online diaper subscription service launched in an exclusive partnership with Procter & Gamble’s Pampers. It has also launched Explore, a one-stop destination for parents to book online classes and activities for their children.

The company, which provides its services throughout the Philippines, hopes to use the new funds to expand its warehouse capabilities and further improve its delivery services. It’s also working on omnichannel expansion and new mediums of direct-to-consumer communication – including social commerce.

Edamama was established amid the Covid-19 pandemic by founder Bela Gupta D’Souza after she realized that mothers had been increasingly purchasing products for their children online. She found that buyers would spend most of their purchasing journey just researching for the best products, but they would still end up with those that were less than ideal.

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In a statement, the company said it hopes to address this issue by designing its offering as an “everyday trust platform” for mothers to get easy online access to quality products and services.

Kickstart Ventures president Minette Navarrete likened this strategy to the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

“Edamama captures the essence of this ‘village’: an easy, trustworthy, and personalized shopping experience for busy moms – useful, curated, verified content and safe community interactions that affirm and support parenting.”