Week 1
Is the funding winter over?
In the first ten days of September, D2C brands have raised more than 17 M USD.
This signals investors confidence in D2C as a sector and the changing consumer preference toward online shopping.
Here are the brands which raised funds this September:
Founded by Dr. GNS Reddy and @Shashi Kumar sir, Akshayakalpa Organic sells organic dairy items like Milk, Ghee, Cheese, Butter etc
What’s innovative about Akshayakalpa is its vision to change the current migration pattern, lakhs and lakhs of people move to urban cities in search of better lifestyles and opportunities. (We have seen adverse effects of this in recent times too)
The start-up works with farmers to create dairy output as a key economic opportunity for gainful employment.
2. Papa Pawsome
Founded by Nishita and Nikita Agarwal, this brand offers products for pets like Shampoo, Creams, Massage Oils etc
The start-up claims all it’s products are 100% natural.
As per Market Decipher Report, the Indian Pet Care Market is one of the fastest growing market.
3. Anveshan
Founded by Aayushi Khandelwal, Akhil Kansal and Kuldeep Parewa. Anveshan is a healthy foods brand offering products like Wood-Pressed oils, A2 Ghee, Organic seeds, Stone Grounded Spices etc
4. D’Chica
Founded by Vani Chugh and Richa Kapila. D’Chica is a kids fashion brand, founded in 2014 and rebranded in 2019 to suit needs of tweens and teens.
Week 1 Report (1st – 10th September 2022)
Week 2
D2C brands have broken the last week’s record.
These brands have raised a sum of 24M USD in the last week.
Let’s look at all the action that happened:
The largest Diaper manufacturer in India, founded by Kamal Johari in 1999, has four established brands – Friends Adult Diapers, Teddy Baby Diapers, Snuggy Diapers, and Rio Menstrual Pads.
According to the IMARC Group, the Diaper Market grew to 1.37 B USD in 2021 and continues to grow at a CAGR of 8.8%.
The market has been dominated by players like Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and other foreign players. Nobel Hygiene is creating a dent by manufacturing in India for the global audience.
2. Beco
Started from a Beach Clean Up drive in Mumbai, Beco is led by the trio – Aditya, Akshay, and Anuj with a vision to save the environment by offering eco-friendly and sustainable products.
Beco currently offers Home & Personal Hygiene products.
Started in the year 2008, Wingreen name stems from Women’s Initiative Network where Anju ji used to work before starting Wingreen Farms – a dip and sauces brand we all are familiar with.
The company closed FY 21 with a revenue of INR 99.5 Cr.
Started with a capital of INR 10 Lakhs, now the brand clocks INR 8-9 Crores monthly.
Purple Style Labs runs platforms like Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop and The Stylist.
Founded by Abhishek Agarwal in 2015, the company incubates young designer brands and helps them with sales, marketing, and technical support.
Week 2 Report (11th-17th September 2022)
Week 3
These five D2C brands raised 44.2 USD M in last one week.
Founded by Tarun, Join Ventures runs gifting brands like IGP.com and Interflora
They are also coming up with a range of food brands under the name Masqa.
Premium workwear brand FableStreet was founded by Ayushi in 2016.
You must follow Ayushi for honest D2C insights and BTS about how FableStreet has been growing.
Led by Avinash, Arvind, Guru & Santosh
Deep- Rooted currently operates on the Farm to Fork model and offers fresh fruits and vegetables to it’s consumers.
The start up is currently active in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
• Freshsharp- 100% fresh and Chemicals free
Meat Delivery start up founded by Majaz is catering following cities:
Darbhanga, Patna, and Kolkata.
While brands like Licious, FreshToHome etc are catering to tier 1 cities – there is a lot white space for new brands to grow, especially in tier 2 & 3 cities.
Living over a span of almost two decades, Ustraa was founded by Rajat Tuli and Rahul Anand in the year 2003.
The brand started as Happily Unmarried and after a decade of operations pivoted to the Men’s grooming space after rebranding itself as Ustraa.
Edit: Happily Unmarried did not rebrand itself as Ustraa. Ustraa is a brand running under the HU as a parent company.
Week 3 Report (17th-24th September 2022)
Week 4
The amount raised by D2C brands in week 4 (September 2022) has dipped.
There is a silver lining though.
In week 4, four new brands raised their seed round.
This is a positive sign, signalling that market is not just focussing on accumulation via mergers and acquistions or monopolization by the giants.
There is enough space for all upcoming challenger brands to co-exist and thrive.
The best part of the d2c eco-system is that it keeps customer at the heart of it’s processes and systems.
Traditional brands will take time to start listening.
Let’s dive in to the exciting brands which raised last week:
1. Poojai
Founded by Sresht Kalanjiam, considered to be one of the youngest founder from the country. Poojai offers spiritual essentials in form of gift boxes.
I personally love their packaging and how beautifully each Pooja box has been curated.
Would be exciting to watch how they are build a community around this space.
2. Nirmalaya
Founded by Bharat, Surbhi & Rajeev the brand is attempting to solve the flower waste problem of India.
Nirmalaya has it’s own patented recycling process and has been operating in this space since 2019.
3. Kidbea
Founded by Swapnil Srivastav Mohammed Hussain & Aman Kumar Mahto – this kidwear brand is spillproof, anti-bacterial and organic.
Surprised? I am too. It’s interesting to see the sustainability movement taking over the clothing space.
[Our friends Relove are building the technology which will help fashion brands adapt sustainability by deploying a p2p resale store right on your shopify store]
4. NATUREPRO
Founded by Mohit, Nature Pro offers safe and sustainble personal care products. All Nature Pro products are certified by Made Safe.
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In the past one week, Chumak and Epigamia also raised funds via the debt route. Check the comments section for complete details.
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Bharat Bansal | Surbhi Bansal | Rajeevv Bansal | Mohit Mohapatra | Mohammad Hussain | Aman Kumar Mahto | Swapnil Srivastava | Vivekananda Nareddula | Agility Ventures | Rashima Misra | Srikumar Misra | Artha Venture Fund | Billionaire Venture Capital | Huddle | Shiprocket
Week 4 Report (25th-30th September 2022)
