D2C startups

India's addressable consumer base for convenient foods has grown from 50 million to nearly 80 million in two years, driven by urbanization and quick commerce expansion

Leveraging online retail, modern logistics, and shifting consumer interests, new-age startups are rebranding mithai for modern consumers, turning it into a year-long business

This special fund targets loan disbursal within seven days.

Last year, the Mumbai-based brand raised USD 18 million (around INR 150 crore) in its Series B funding round, led by Panthera Growth Partners from Singapore.

The Indore-based hygiene brand Millennium Babycares excels in baby, fem-care, and adult hygiene products.

She gained invaluable insights by working in a beauty store and interacting with over 3,000 women which guided the product development

Starting with small-scale pilots in 2016, they allowed customers to subscribe and pay for milk in advance. By 2019, they established a solid customer base of around 5,000 subscribers, setting the groundwork for their D2C journey

Kabra's journey began during his MBA studies abroad in 2015, culminating in the launch of XYXX in 2016. The brand name reflects a disruptive vision, emphasizing individuality.

Our current issue is one dedicated to the doyens of D2C. One clear theme, which emerged out of our conversations with entrepreneurs featured in this edition, is their newfound focus towards quick commerce, which is driving sales to a new high

Through extensive research, the team discovered that Indians are among the most sleep-deprived people in the world, often spending nearly 26 years of their lives on beds supported by outdated mattress technology. This gap in the market highlighted a critical need for innovation

"We observed a highly unorganised sector riddled with counterfeit products, misleading label declarations, and a lack of proper quality control measures. As consumers, we struggled to find authentic, highquality products we could trust," said Shreyans Jain, founder & executive director, Nutrabay

In 2016, with just 20 cows and a dream of creating something better, Sid's Farm was born—a direct-to-consumer (D2C) dairy brand driven by a passion for quality

Freecultr, founded in 2019, redefines India's innerwear market with a data-driven, consumer-centric D2C model. Expanding globally, it emphasises comfort, sustainability, and customer feedback, aiming for 50% growth by 2025.

Sanon believes in nature as well as science, and she wanted to create something that would hyphen both. And that's how she met, Tarun who also runs another successful D2C venture mCaffeine

The brand creates eco-friendly, educational games promoting skill development and critical thinking, offering sustainable, screen-free play for children through innovative, digital-first strategies and global expansion.

With an INR 25 crore corpus, The Super Angels fund aims to invest in 20-25 pre-seed/seed-stage D2C startups, offering capital, mentorship, and strategic guidance, with INR 1 crore average cheque sizes.

Indian D2C fashion retailer Rare Rabbit is reported to have received its first chunk of INR 150 Crore out of the INR 500 Crore investment round.

Founded in 2015 by Aditya Sanghavi, the Mumbai-based startup claims to retail in over 5,000 stores across the country through distributors and works with a few supermarket chains.

What makes their "natural" unique? "Our commitment extends beyond marketing rhetoric, emphasising daily freshness straight from our Ayurvedic kitchens," says Das

The business grew about 66 per cent in 2022-23 to around Rs 500 crore and they are now expecting revenues to grow to INR 1,000 crore with a four-fold jump in sales of smartwatches

Their founding thesis was born out of a shared passion for pets that the three co-founders of Supertails.com discovered in 2017.