Coworking space provider Awfis, which counts Peak XV Partners (erstwhile Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia) as among marquee investors, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). 

Its IPO comprises a fresh issue of INR 160 Cr and an offer-for-sale component of up to 1 Cr shares. 

The OFS component includes comprising the offer for sale of up to 5.01 Mn equity shares by Peak XV, up to 4.94 equity shares by Bisque Limited, and up to 75,174 equity shares by Link Investment Trust.

The startup will utilise INR 52.5 Cr from the net proceeds towards setting up new coworking setups. The startup will open 15 new centers under the ‘Awfis’ format in Fiscal 2025, in Mumbai, Bengaluru, the National Capital Region of Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Jaipur. The startup has estimated that it will spend INR 3.5 Cr to open a centre. 

The rest of the net proceeds which amounts to INR 68 Cr will be utilised as a working capital.

Founded in 2015 by Amit Ramani, Awfis has evolved from just being a coworking network to a tech-enabled workspace solutions platform, catering to freelancers, startups, SMEs, large corporates, and MNCs. To date, the startup has raised nearly $90 Mn across multiple rounds. It directly competes against the likes of WeWork, 91Springboard, OYO’s Innov8, BHive, among others. 

As of June 30, 2023, the startup had 121 operational centres across 16 Indian cities, with a total of 70,242 operational seats. It also claims to have had 2,139 clients by the same time. 

ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, IIFL Securities and Emkay Global Financial Services are the book runners to the issue.

Awfis reported revenue of INR 545.28 Cr in FY23, compared to Rs 257.05 Cr a year ago. Its net loss declined slightly to INR 46.64 Cr in FY23. In the first three months of FY24, the coworking services provider reported an operating revenue of INR 187.7 Cr, while its loss stood at INR 8.56 Cr.

The post Peak XV-Backed Awfis Files DRHP, Plans To Raise INR 160 Cr Via Fresh Share Issue appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Streaming giant YouTube has begun rolling out its branded content platform, YouTube BrandConnect, in India.

The platform will be open to eligible creators and select advertisers in the country and will connect creators, brands, and agencies for direct collaboration. Through this, brands will be able to zero in on the ‘right mix and profile’ of creators while the latter will get access to a new discovery avenue. 

“… We have begun rolling out BrandConnect, YouTube’s branded content platform, to eligible creators and select advertisers in India. This will help brands execute their branded content campaigns more seamlessly by identifying the right mix and profile of creators to work with, while creators will have a new avenue to be discovered and earn more from their content,” said parent Google in a blog post. 

The streaming major also announced new features on YouTube including ‘Podcast shelves’ on the YouTube Music homepage to improve discoverability and increase engagement for creators. It also introduced new features on YouTube Studio to make it ‘easier’ for creators to publish podcasts.

The company also said that creator podcasts will now be available for offline, on-demand and background listening on YouTube Music in the country. This, the streaming major said, would enable podcasters on the platform to ‘earn more via ads and subscriptions.’

Citing a report by Oxford Economics, YouTube said that more than 7 Lakh creators and partners in India received some form of income from their presence on the platform. 

It also said that the number of channels that earned a majority of revenue from fan funding features (which include channel memberships and Super Chats during live streams) rose 10% year-on-year in December 2022 without disclosing the actual number.

Channel memberships include subscription plans offered by creators in lieu of exclusive content. On the other hand, super chats enable viewers to highlight their messages during a live stream for a specified duration.

This comes amid a host of creator-focussed offerings launched by YouTube in recent months. Earlier this year, it expanded eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and brought YouTube Shorts creators under the initiative. It also rolled out an ad revenue sharing feature for short form videos as competition began to mount from Meta-owned Instagram Reels. 

YouTube also recently announced upcoming creative tools on YouTube Shorts and is said to be testing new GenAI features that would allow users to create music tracks based on a text prompt or even a simple hummed tune. 

However, the platform has also come under the spotlight of the government to crack the whip on deepfakes and  misinformation. YouTube India’s senior executive, last month, dubbed deepfakes as being antithetical to its interests, saying that viewers, creators and advertisers want to steer clear of platforms that allow fake news or misinformation.

The company then also said that it was compliant with all local laws and was continuously actively engaging with the government on all emerging issues.

The post YouTube Launches Branded Content Platform In India To Connect Brands With Creators appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Have you ever felt like you’re throwing everything at your Facebook ads, but they just don’t stick? I’ve been there. It’s like shooting arrows in the dark, hoping one hits the bullseye.

But here’s the good news: mastering Facebook ads for your D2C business isn’t about luck; it’s about strategy. 

Let me share some insights that turned my campaigns around.

Start With Your Best Sellers

When you’re at the starting line, it’s all about reducing variables. Your best sellers are your secret weapon. They have proven appeal, giving you a head start. If you’re starting from scratch with no sales data, focus on the product category with the highest sell-through rate. Use this as your ad’s star player, then iterate based on performance.

Messaging Over Design

It’s tempting to get caught up in design details. Pink or yellow? Bold or subtle? But here’s the thing: it’s the messaging that drives buying behaviour. What position does your product hold in the customer’s mind? Your goal is to become the go-to product for their specific needs. While design can optimise the buying experience, it’s the messaging that will drive the sale.

Capturing Attention The Right Way

Ads are your spotlight. They’re there to grab attention and lead customers to checkout. Focus on how your product fits into their life, the problems it solves, and the ‘wow’ factor it brings. But remember, attention should be rooted in value, not gimmicks. Authenticity wins the race.

The Power Of The Offer

Attracting visitors is one thing, but converting them is another. If your traffic is high but conversions are low, it’s time to revamp your offer. How can you present it more compellingly? Consider:

• Comparing with other products
• Offering discounts
• Highlighting customer reviews

These strategies can enhance perceived value and nudge visitors towards making a purchase.

Your Role In This Journey

As a marketer, your role is to guide potential customers through a journey where each step feels natural and inevitable. It’s about creating a narrative that resonates, engages, and ultimately convinces.

Let’s embrace these strategies and transform our Facebook ads from shots in the dark to targeted arrows hitting their mark. 

The post Mastering The Art Of Creating Impactful D2C Facebook Ads appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) market, which is likely to reach a size of $100 Bn by 2025, has grown exponentially in the last few years. Several factors including the Covid pandemic, higher internet penetration, growth of digital infrastructure and rise in the number of millennials, among others, have shored up the D2C brands. 

Home to more than 190 Mn digital shoppers, India has the world’s third-largest online shopping base in the world. It is this burgeoning ecosystem that the new-age D2C brands aim to capitalise on, on the back of the growing appetite of Indian consumers for innovation and waning loyalty towards traditional players. 

Of this, fashion and clothing startups have the highest potential and are expected to grow to $43.2 Bn by 2025, according to an Inc42 report.

Some of the emerging D2C brands including Mamaearth, CaratLane and Nua merely took a couple of years to reach INR 100 Cr revenue mark. This is a testament to the success of D2C brands in the country.

Let’s take a look at some of the popular D2C brands in the country. 

The list is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the Indian D2C startups in alphabetical order.

1. 82°E

Founded in 2021 by Bollywood Actress Deepika Padukone and Jigar Shah, 82°E is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) personal care brand. 

It sells four skincare products – moisturisers, face oil, cleanser and sunscreen – in the price range of INR 1,200 and INR 2,900, as per the company’s website. 

In December 2022, it secured $7.5 Mn in seed funding from DSG Consumer Partners, IDEO Ventures, Padukone’s family office, and some ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs). 

It also has a research and development lab in Bengaluru city.

2. Anveya Living

Founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Saurav Patnaik and a former FirstCry executive Vivek Singh, Anveya Living sells sustainable hair and skin care products.

In 2022, the D2C startup launched its flagship products Colorisma and Curlvana and added a gold acne kit to its offerings. The startup clocked a revenue of about INR 11.7 Cr in the fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22).

The Bengaluru-based startup aims to clock a revenue of INR 45 Cr in 2023. It has added more hair care products to its offerings.  

In February 2022, Anveya raised INR 8 Cr in a seed funding round from Venture capital firm Rukam Capital.

3. Arata

Founded in 2017 by Dhruv Madhok and Dhruv Bhasin, ARATA’s first-ever product, a homemade hair gel, came to being around Madhok’s wedding. Madhok had made the chemical-free hair gel for Bhasin. 

24 months later, the D2C brand’s first product was sold on its website and the company took shape. The startup derives its name from the Japanese word ‘Arata’, which means ‘fresh and new.’  

ARATA finds its differentiation in the chemical-free beauty and skincare segment, and its range includes products such as hair gels, hair creams, shampoos, conditioners, toothpaste, face wash and serums. 

The D2C brand procures ingredients globally and locally from certified organic farms, which are developed into finished products after extensive research and development (R&D). The startup claims to offer zero-chemical and toxic-free personal care products that use only recycled plastic for packaging as part of its sustainability promise.

The D2C brand currently has 26 SKUs and a user base of more than 5 Lakh customers. It claims to have sold more than 7 Lakh products by mid-2022. However, a majority of its sales, around 70%, take place from ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, and BigBasket.

4. Atomberg 

Set up in 2012 by Manoj Meena and Sibabrata Das, Atomberg manufactures energy-efficient fans and allied equipment, along with mixer grinders. Its product portfolio includes pedestal, wall and ceiling fans, among others.

In 2021, Deepika Padukone-led family office KA Enterprises invested in Atomberg’s Series B funding round. In May 2023, the startup raised a further $86 Mn in a Series C round.

Besides Padukone, its cap table also includes A91 Partners, Survam Partners, Trifecta Capital, and Whiteboard Capital Fund, Temasek, Steadview Capital, among others.

During the time of its last fundraising, the startup was said to have 400 service centres throughout India and clocked an annual revenue rate of INR 300 Cr.

5. Bacca Bucci

Much before the Gen Z lingo acquired buzzwords such as sneakers or running shoes, the duo of Anuj Nevatia and Natwar Agrawal was quietly working on setting up something of their own in the footwear industry.

For Nevatia, the decision to focus on footwear was primarily driven by factors such as business seasonality, the organized nature of the market, and the timeless demand for shoes, which laid the groundwork for the inception of Bacca Bucci, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) footwear brand established in 2015.

As a bootstrapped startup, Bacca Bucci leverages artificial intelligence (AI) in its backend processes for shoe manufacturing. Beyond footwear, the platform also offers a range of complementary products, including belts, wallets, and toiletry bags.

Presently, Bacca Bucci markets its products through its official website and various ecommerce platforms.

6. Beco

Founded in 2019 by Aditya Ruia, Akshay Varma, and Anuj Ruia, Beco is a sustainable kitchen, home, and personal care brand. It sells biodegradable and combustible products such as tissue rolls, bamboo facial tissues, dishwashing liquid, toothbrushes, and garbage bags.

In September 2022, the startup secured $3 Mn in its Series A round led by Rukam Capital along with  Prashant Pittie, Titan Capital, Priyavrata Mafatlal and Better Capital. 

While announcing its Series A fundraise, it claimed that it would expand its retail stores to 10K across India.

Prior to this, it had raised INR 4 Cr in its seed funding round from Climate Angels Fund, Rukam Capital, Sequoia Sprout, and Zivame founder Richa Kar, among others. 

7. Bewakoof

Founded in 2012 by Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, Bewakoof sells a wide variety of clothes, stationery items, footwear and mobile accessories on its website. The D2C brand also sells a host of merchandise clothes and accessories in partnership with Marvel, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Star Wars, Disney, DC and Looney Tunes.

In August 2021, it secured $8.09 Mn in its Pre-Series B funding round and in December 2022, Aditya Birla Group’s house of brands business TMRW invested INR 200 Cr in the D2C startup Bewakoof. 

In total, Bewakoof has raised a total funding of INR 23.6 Mn to date. Its cap table includes IvyCap Ventures, Spring Marketing Capital, Investcorp and Klub-led accelr8 fund, among others. 

At the time of its last fundraising activity, it was said to have sold more than 1 Cr products and served 60 Lakh customers. It also aimed to record INR 2000 Cr in sales by 2025.  

8. BlissClub

Set up in 2020 by Minu Margeret, BlissClub sells a host of women’s activewear including bottom wear, sports bras, tops, tees and co-ords, among others. Under the BlissQueen Royalty Program, the D2C startup offers reward points to its loyal customers. 

In May, the Bengaluru-based D2C startup secured $15 Mn in its Series A funding round. It has raised a total funding of $17.25 Mn to date.

The startup claims to have grown its sales by 25X over the last year. It aims to attain an annualised revenue of INR 100 Cr by the end of 2022.

Eight Roads Ventures, Elevation Capital, Swiggy’ Sriharsha Majety, Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh, Licious’ Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, SoftBank’s Munish Varma and Sumer Juneja, Shopify’s Brennan Loh are among its investors.

9. Bluestone

Set up in 2011 by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha and Vidya Nataraj, Bluestone offers more than 8000 jewellery designs in rings, pendants and other allied products. It follows an omnichannel approach to selling its products. 

In March this year, the D2C jewellery brand secured $30 Mn from Hero Enterprise’s Sunil Kant Munjal and other investors at a post-money valuation of $410 Mn. So far, it has raised $87.8 Mn from investors including Ratan Tata, Accel, IvyCap, Saama Capital, Kalaari and Iron Pillar, among others. 

In the financial year 2020-21, it narrowed its consolidated losses by nearly 43% to INR 13.8 Cr. Meanwhile, its revenue from operations grew by 5% year-on-year to INR 269 Cr in the corresponding period.

10. boAt 

Launched in 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, boAt is an audio direct-to-consumer brand that manufactures a host of audio products such as earphones, headphones and speakers, among others. It retails these products on its website and ecommerce marketplaces. 

In October 2022, boAT secured nearly $61 Mn from Warburg Pincus and Malabar Investments. With this fundraising, the startup also decided to delay its IPO plans. 

Its cap table includes InnoVen Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Fireside Ventures, among others. 

In the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), its profit dipped 20% YoY to INR 68.7 Cr in FY22 against INR 86.5 Cr in FY21. Revenue of the New Delhi-based D2C electronics brand surged 117.5% YoY to INR 2,886.4 Cr in FY22. 

11. Bold Care

Founded in 2020 by Rajat Jadhav, Rahul Krishnan, Harsh Singh, and Mohit Yadav, Bold Care is an end-to-end men’s health and wellness platform that centres around sexual health, hair care and daily nutrition. 

It sells sexual wellness kits, complete hair care packs, and natural supplements to boost immunity, sleep, haircare, and sexual health. 

Accelerated by Huddle, the health and wellness D2C brand has so far catered to 2.3 Lakh men and sells its products on marketplaces and its own website. The startup has secured $3 Mn in funding to date.

Bold Care is backed by names such as Sharrp Ventures, Anthill Ventures, Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs and Shiprocket, NB Ventures, among others. 

12. BoldFit 

Fitness startup BoldFit, which was founded in December 2018 by Pallav Bihani, sells nutritional supplements and fitness equipment to consumers. 

The startup sells Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-certified (FSSAI) products in the market and works with WHO-GMP-approved manufacturing firms to implement quality checks at every stage. 

The fitness startup has created more than 400 SKUs across health and ayurvedic supplements, healthy foods, home gym equipment and accessories in the last three years. 

In the financial year 2022, it reported a revenue of INR 63 Cr and sold over 5 Mn products.

With an annual revenue rate (ARR) of 205%, BoldFit has served more than 2.5 Mn customers to date. 

13. Bombay Shirt Company

Founded in 2012 by Akshay Narvekar, Bombay Shirt Company is an online clothing brand. The startup sells bespoke apparel for men and women. It presently leads four brands–Bombay Shirt Company, cityof_, Pause and Korra. It has a presence in India, Dubai and New York.

In 2019, the Mumbai-based clothing startup reportedly raised $9 Mn in its Series B funding round. It has raised a total of $11 Mn in funding to date. 

Its cap table includes venture capital firm Lightbox and individual investors Amit Patni and Arihant Patni.

14. Bombay Shaving Company

Founded in 2016, Bombay Shaving Company initially started as a men-focussed D2C personal care brand but later started offering a range of products in hair removal and hair care categories. It has a portfolio of over 100 SKUs including shaving regimens, trimmers, beard products, razors for women, wax strips, hair removal creams, and other allied personal care products.

Earlier in 2022, it secured INR 30 Cr in its then-ongoing Series C funding round. So far, it has a total of $45.6 Mn in funding. It counts Gulf Islamic Investments, Malabar Investments, Patni Advisors, Singularity AMC and Reckitt Benckiser as its investors.

It claims to have served over 3 Mn customers till date and has clocked INR 150 Cr annual revenue rate, expanding 35% on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

15. CaratLane

Founded in 2008 by Mithun Sacheti and Srinivasa Gopalan, CaratLane offers a host of jewellery, right from bracelets to kids-focussed pendants to customised pieces of jewellery. It retails its products through an omnichannel marketing strategy.

In 2019, Tata Group-led Titan Company infused INR 99.9 Cr in CaratLane thereby, increasing its stakeholding to 66.39% in the startup.  Subsequently, the conglomerate, in August 2023, announced plan to acquire an additional 27.18% stake in CaratLane for INR 4,621 Cr.

Once the deal goes through, Tata will effectively own 98.28% of the company with the jewellery startup acquiring a valuation of INR 17,000 Cr ($2 Bn).  

The jewellery brands reported a consolidated revenue of INR 2,169 Cr in FY23. Besides, CaratLane’s net sales value (NSV) also surged to INR 571 Cr in FY23, up 56.7% compared to FY22. 

16. Chaayos

Founded in 2012 by Nitin Saluja and Raghav Verma, Chaayos sells a wide variety of tea and packaged food products. It sells tea at its physical stores while other packaged food products are sold via ecommerce marketplaces and physical stores.

In June 2022, it secured $53 Mn in its Series C funding round from investors including Elevation Capital, Think Investments, Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Ventures. It has raised $85.5M in funding to date. 

17. Chai Point 

Set up in 2010 by Amuleek Singh Bijral and Professor Tarun Khanna, Chai Point follows an omnichannel approach to selling tea varieties and other snacks. It opened its first retail store in 2010 followed by introducing home delivery of its flagship teas in 2014 and rolling out tea and coffee vending machines in 2016.

In 2018, the D2C F&B brand secured $20 Mn in its Series C funding round. So far, it has raised $36 Mn in funding from investors including Paragon Partners, Eight Roads, Saama Capital and DSG.  

In the financial year 2020-21, it reported revenues from operations at INR 55.64 Cr and loss after tax stood at INR 78.49 Cr, according to Tofler.

18. Chumbak 

Founded in 2010 by husband-wife duo Vivek Prabhakar and Shubhra Chadda, Chumbak is a home and lifestyle brand that sells furniture, home decor items, jewellery and footwear, among others. It has an omnichannel presence across India, particularly in Tier-1 cities.

In 2019, the Bengaluru-based D2C brand secured INR 7.39 Cr in its Pre-Series E funding round from Gaja Capital Fund. So far, it has bagged $23.5 Mn in funding from investors. 

It looks to set up over 50 physical retail stores across India and further aims to have more than 100 retail stores in the country in the next one to two years.

19. ClearDekho

In a space that is populated by big names such as Lenskart, and Titan Eye Plus, ClearDekho found a niche in the country’s D2C eyewear segment. Building on his prior experience in the space, ClearDekho founder and CEO Shivi Singh is tapping the burgeoning eyewear market in Tier III & IV cities of India. 

In a chat with Inc42, Singh said that the company aims to standardise eyewear accessibility for consumers in smaller towns and cities while offering value for money. 

Founded in 2017, the startup has so far raised $7 Mn in funding. It counts names like Venture Catalysts, Jaipuria Family Office, and Dholakia Ventures as its investors. 

With more than 100 franchisee stores across India, ClearDekho has a presence in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. 

20. Clensta

During his eight-year-long stint with the Indian defence startup ecosystem, Puneet Gupta came across a peculiar problem — soldiers stationed at the high-altitude areas of Drass and Siachen would go for months without a bath due to freezing weather conditions and extreme water scarcity. 

Gupta, an IIM-Calcutta alumnus, developed a waterless body bath and shampoo that can be used by people to take baths sans water while maintaining proper personal hygiene. 

Featured in the 2022 edition of Inc42’s Fast42 list, Clensta claims to offer more than 14 SKUs and sold more than 3.8 Mn products in 2022. It clocked revenues to the tune of INR 13.3 Cr in FY21. Clensta claims to have seen a 100% increase in its FY23 top line, which its plans to further grow 3X in FY24. 

Founded in 2016, the startup is backed by the likes of IAN Fund, N+1 Capital, IPV Fund, HEM Securities and Venture Catalysts. It has so far raised INR 105 Cr in a mix of debt and equity across multiple rounds.

21. Clovia

Founded in 2013 by Suman Choudhary and husband-wife duo Neha Kant and Pankaj Vermani, Clovia is a women’s lingerie brand that offers over 3,500 intimate wear styles. Recently, it has added Soumya Kant and Abhay Batra to its founding team.

In March 2022, Reliance Retail invested INR 950 Cr in Clovia’s parent company Purple Panda Fashions for an 89% stakeholding in the startup. So far, Clovia has raised $24.7 Mn from investors.

Its cap table includes AT Capital, IvyCap Ventures, Singularity Ventures and Ravi Dhariwal, Ex-CEO of Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd, among others.

22. Country Delight 

Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight sources milk and other food products such as ghee, cottage cheese, fruits and vegetables from farmers and delivers them to customers’ doorstep.

In May 2022, it secured $108 Mn in its Series D funding round from Venturi Partners, Temasek, SWC Global, Trifecta Capital and a slew of other investors. Prior to this, it had also raised $25 Mn in a Series C round led by Elevation Capital. So far, it has raised a total of $133 Mn in funding.

It claims to have grown 10x in the past three years and has served more than 1.5 Mn customers across the country. It further asserts to be delivering over 8 Bn orders every month across 11 Indian states.

Its cap table includes Matrix Partners, Orios Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, and IIFL PE Fund, among others.

23. Curefoods

Founded in 2020 by Ankit Nagori, Curefoods is a cloud kitchen aggregator that houses several brands–EatFit, Sharief Bhai, Aligarh House Biryani and CakeZone, to name a few. It manages over 150 cloud kitchens in 15 Indian cities.

In 2023, it raised  $37 Mn from Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures. In addition, Bollywood actress Nora Fatehi invested in Curefoods and, also, became the brand ambassador of its sub-brand CakeZone. 

Its cap table includes Iron Pillar, Chiratae Ventures, Accel Partners, Sixteenth Street Capital, Iron Pillar and Bollywood Actor Varun Dhawan, among others.

In the financial year 2021-22, it reported revenue from operations at INR 1.3 Cr while its consolidated losses were INR 7.4 Cr, according to Tofler.

24. DaMENSCH

Founded in 2018 by Anurag Saboo and Gaurav Pushkar, DaMENSCH is a men’s clothing brand that sells a range of clothing styles such as odour-cancelling men’s underwear, polo-t-shirts, t-shirts, hoodies, joggers, tank tops, and chino shorts, among others.

In February 2022, it raised $16.4 Mn from A91 Partners, Matrix Partners, Whiteboard Venture Partners, and Saama Capital. So far, it has raised a total of $23.1 Mn from investors.

In the financial year 2021, it reported losses of INR 5.8 Cr whilst its revenue from operations stood at INR 22 Cr, as per Tofler.

25. Desi Farms

Set up in 2016 by Prateek Gupta and Sunil Shahi, D2C startup Desi Farms sells dairy products such as Malai Dahi, whole buffalo milk, Shrikhand, and Amrakhand, among others. 

To eliminate intermediaries, the dairy startup partners with local farmers and procures fresh milk and milk products from them. Later, these products undergo rigorous quality checks at the processing unit, wherein the milk is treated without using chemical preservatives. 

It delivers dairy products to customers without levying any charges and also provides customised subscription services to its users.

The startup currently offers 48 SKUs and claims to have more than 10K paid-up customers. In 2022, it set up over 50 offline outlets in Pune and Navi Mumbai, while in fiscal year 2022, it generated a revenue of INR 8.8 Cr.   

26. Dogsee Chew

Founded in 2015 by Bhupendra Khanal and Sneh Sharma, the Bengaluru-based pet food startup offers vegetarian dog treats that are prepared from yak milk, sourced from villagers residing in Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling.

Dogsee Chew raised $6.7 Mn in its Series A funding round in 2021, and in 2022, it raised $60.59 Mn from Mankind Pharma along with the existing backers. In total, the startup has raised funding of $67.29 Mn so far. 

It claims to be the fourth-largest pet food exporter in India and currently operates in more than 30 countries. 

27. Dr. Vaidya’s 

Founded in 2016 by Arjun Vaidya, Dr. Vaidya’s is an Ayurvedic products startup. It claims to sell over 100 FDA-certified products and has a manufacturing facility in Silvassa, Mumbai. Its offerings include LIVitup, HERBOfit, Chakaash. 

The Mumbai-based startup also manufactures products to cure chronic ailments such as diabetes, asthma and arthritis, among others. It sells products through its website and ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. 

In 2021, the startup reportedly got acquired by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group’s venture capital arm for $6.9 Mn. Following this, its valuation soared to nearly INR 144 Cr.

28. Drink Prime

Founded in 2016 by software engineer Vijender Reddy Muthyala and corporate executive Manas Ranjan Hota, DrinkPrime is a watertech startup that allows users to rent IoT-enabled water purifiers via the platform’s app and website. 

Operating on a monthly and daily subscription basis, DrinkPrime came into being after the duo failed to find a reliable and affordable water purifier. Since inception, the startup’s purifiers have installed more than 72,000 water purifiers and has more than 1 Lakh subscribers. 

Backed by names such as Omidyar Network India, Sequoia Surge and 9Unicorns, DrinkPrime has so far raised capital in excess of $11.5 Mn across multiple rounds. It competes directly with homegrown startups in the watertech arena, including names such as Swajal and OwO.

The startup was also featured in the 2023 edition of Inc42’s Fast42 list. 

The startup is looking to turn EBITDA-positive and gain more than 3 Lakh subscribers in 2023. With an eye on pan-India expansion, the startup is targeting 1 Mn households in the country. 

29. Earth Rhythm

Founded in October 2020 by Harini Sivakumar, Earth Rhythm is a beauty and personal care brand that sells a host of haircare, skincare and body care products. It also sells zero-waste products including toothbrushes, vanity bags, combs and soap dishes, among others.

The Delhi NCR-based claims to have 160 stock-keeping units (SKUs) and has served over 150K users to date. It has raised a total of $1.2 Mn in funding from Anicut Capital. It aims to reduce the carbon footprint and at the same time, use sustainable ingredients in making its products. 

In the financial year 2021-22, it posted earnings from operations at INR 6 Cr. It asserts to have witnessed a 3x rise in its customer orders since its inception. In January this year, it received 15K orders.

30. Ecosoul

Rahul Singh and Arvind Ganesan first met each other during their stint at the American furniture goods company, Wayfair, where they worked on the sustainable product categories. Realising that there was a huge gap in the market for eco-friendly products, the duo left their high-paying jobs in the US and founded EcoSoul in 2020.

EcoSoul Home sells eco-friendly home products such as crockery, cutlery, garbage bags, and tableware. Headquartered in the US, with operational presence in countries like China and Vietnam, the company forayed into India earlier this year.

The D2C eco-friendly home essentials brand sells its products primarily through its website as well as ecommerce platforms. It currently offers 43 product varieties and 1,800 SKUs.

Since its inception, EcoSoul has secured more than $15 Mn in funding from notable investors, including venture capital firm Accel. Furthermore, actor Bhumi Pednekar recently made an undisclosed investment in the startup.

31. FableStreet 

Founded in 2016 by Ayushi Gudwani, FableStreet is a women-focused clothing brand. It offers readymade as well as bespoke clothes for female working professionals. It claims to use a three-body measurement algorithm for creating customised apparel.

In 2019, it raised $2.95 Mn in its Series A funding round. Prior to that, it secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding in 2017.

Its cap table includes Fireside Ventures, Pradeep Parameswaran from Uber India and South Asia, Dilip Khandelwal from Deutsche Bank, Suhail Sameer from RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, and Fusiontech Ventures, among others.

32. FabAlley 

FabAlley, founded in 2012 by Shivani Poddar and Tanvi Malik, is a brand of High Street Essentials (HSE). It sells a wide range of women’s Western apparel via online marketplaces, physical retail stores, multi-brand outlets (MBOs), and its own website. 

In May, FabAlley’s parent company HSE secured INR 40 Cr from Stride Ventures. So far, HSE has raised $14.02 Mn in funding from investors including Elevational Capital, India Quotient, Dominor Holding, Trifecta Capital Advisors, SenseAI Venture, Baird Capital, and Institutional Venture Partners. 

In the financial year 2020-21, FabAlley reported a profit of INR 27.5 Cr, while its revenue from operations stood at INR 105 Cr, according to Tofler. 

33. Flistaa 

Founded in 2021 by CA Harshvardhan Chhatbar, Flistaa is a beverage brand that offers premix beverages in sachets. It offers a wide range of Indian beverages such as street juices, milkshakes and sharbat, etc. 

In December 2021, the Ahmedabad-based D2C startup reportedly received an undisclosed amount of investment from ah! Ventures’ First Gear Platform.

34. Flo Sleep Solutions

With an aim to offer good quality mattresses and other sleep essentials to Indian consumers, Gaurav Zatakia founded D2C startup Flo Sleep Solutions in 2018.

Flo primarily sells varied types of mattresses and pillows such as ortho mattresses, ergo mattresses, anti-gravity latex mattresses, baby mattresses, fibre pillows and memory foam pillows. It counts Mistry Ventures as its investor.

Flo’s founder Zatakia is also leading a B2B firm Hush for over 13 years now. Hush mainly supplies mattresses and allied sleep essentials to luxury hotel chains such as Taj Hotels, JW Marriott and the Hyatt Group. 

35. Freakins

Back in 2018, Puneet Sehgal, Sachin Shah and Shaan Shah experimented with the idea of building a desi women-centred denim wear brand. Investing INR 10 Lakh of their capital, the duo first designed and manufactured a few denim wear samples to see if they were headed in the right direction .

They received overwhelming response, setting the stage for launch of their D2C denim wear brand Freakins in 2019. However, the startup forayed into the men’s category in February 2023 to emerge as a full-fledged Gen-Z denim wear brand.

The startup raised $4 Mn in July 2023 in a seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India and Blume Ventures. Freakins is also backed by the likes of angel investors such as Revant Bhate of Mosaic Wellness, Meesho’s Utkrishta Kumar, and OfBusiness’s Asish Mohapatra.

The D2C brand’s product portfolio currently spans more than 35 categories and 1,500 styles.

Freakins sells its denims via online marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra. The company clocked a gross revenue of INR 22 Cr in FY23 and is eyeing to become an INR 100 Cr brand by the end of 2024.

36. FreshToHome

FreshToHome was incorporated in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Shan Kadavil and Mathew Joseph. The inspiration to venture into the direct-to-consumer (D2C) meat and fish industry struck Kadavil when his personal fish supply was disrupted due to the impending closure of Sea To Home, an ecommerce platform based in Kerala.

Collaborating with Joseph, one of the cofounder of Sea To Home and an angel investor, Kadavil embarked on his new venture. Since then, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) meat startup has significantly expanded, now serving 160 cities in India and all seven emirates in the UAE.

With investors such as Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund, E20 Investment, Mount Judi Ventures, Investcorp and Iron Pillar in its kitty, the D2C meat startup has so far raised $256 Mn in funding across multiple rounds. 

The company competes with the likes of Licious, Zappfresh, and Meatigio, among others. To fuel its growth, FreshToHome plans to expand its store count to 100 across all major metros by 2024-end. 

37. GIVA

Founded in 2019 by Ishendra Agarwal, Nikita Prasa and Sachin Shetty, GIVA is a D2C brand that sells budget-friendly fine jewellery to its customers — both men and women. The startup largely prices its offerings in the price range of INR 1,000 to INR 20,000. 

Competing with the likes of homegrown brands such as CaratLane, Melorra, Tanishq and BlueStone, the omnichannel brand derives 90% of its revenue from online channels. 

The startup’s revenue saw a 100% YoY rise in FY22. GIVA claims to have a customer base of 1.2 Mn. The D2C brand, which currently operates more than 40 exclusive brand outlets in the country, aims to launch 100 retail outlets in tier II and tier III Indian cities by FY24. 

The startup has raised INR 130 Cr in equity funding since its inception. In March this year, it secured INR 40 Cr in debt from Alteria Capital. 

38. Good Health Company (GHC)

Founded in 2021 by Samarth Sindhi and Saurav Panda, Good Health Company (GHC) is a subsidiary of Raksha Health. 

GHC sells a range of men-focussed wellness and personal care products, including anti-hair thinning kits, hair regrowth, beard care kit, and glowing skin kits, among others. 

It also offers free consultations to customers regarding their skincare, haircare and sexual health problems.

So far, it has raised $20.7 Mn funding from a number of investors, including Left Lane Capital, Khosla Ventures, Quiet Capital, and Weekend Fund, among others. 

39. Gynoveda

After suffering from lifestyle disorders for more than a decade, Vishal Gupta eventually found respite in the ancient science of Ayurveda. During his research, Gupta discovered effective remedies for a host of gynaecological problems such as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), abnormal discharge, and umpteen, among other issues. 

Realising a prevailing gap in the market, Gupta, along with his wife Rachana and Dr Aarati Patil, founded Gynoveda in 2019, blending the age-old science with modern technology and content. 

Gynoveda sells products ranging from moisturisers to Ayurvedic capsules via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. Of its total revenue, 80% comes from its own website while the rest comes from ecommerce websites. 

With a customer base of 3 Lakh women, the startup is eyeing scaling this number to 10 Lakh in the next three years. It claims to have annualised revenue of INR 100 Cr. 

The startup has so far raised funding in excess of $11 Mn and counts names such as India Alternatives Fund, Fireside Ventures, Wipro Enterprises, Alteria Capital and RPG Ventures as its backers. 

40. Happilo 

Founded in 2016 by Vikas Nahar, Happilo sells a host of healthy snacks such as nuts, dry fruits, seeds and dry roasted snacks, among others, via its website and offline stores. It also offers an option to pay through EMIs.

In February, the Bengaluru-based D2C brand secured $25 Mn from Motilal Oswal Private Equity. The startup then claimed that it had expanded over 4x in the previous 24 months. It also said that it was aiming for a revenue of INR 2,000 Cr over the next four years. 

So far, Happilo has bagged total funding of $38 Mn.  

41. Happy Nature

Founded in 2022 by Sahil Chopra, Parth Birendra, Vikas Singh and Vishal Rastogi, Happy Nature is a farm-to-fork dairy startup. It runs a dairy farm in Jhajjar, Haryana. 

The startup has developed its standard operating procedures (SOPs) to keep aflatoxin levels low in cow’s milk, without adding chemical preservatives and antibiotics. It currently sells more than 35 SKUs to over 80K customers across Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Haryana.  

In the fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22), it reported a 69% YoY rise in its revenue to INR 14.4 Cr. Further, it plans to generate INR 150 Cr in annual revenue by 2025. 

42. Heads Up For Tails 

Founded in 2008 by Rashi Narag, Heads Up For Tails sells a wide range of pet products such as preservative-free pet treats, organic supplements, and orthopaedic beds. It aims to increase awareness among pet parents regarding the need for pet care and wellness. 

In August 2021, the Delhi-based pet care brand secured $37 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Verlinvest and Sequoia Capital India. It had a headcount of 350 employees then. Back then, it was looking to launch new product offerings across India and expand its product portfolio in international markets.

The startup has raised $50.3 Mn in aggregate to date. 

43. Himalayan Organics

Himalayan Organics is a D2C nutraceutical startup that was founded in 2018 by Vaibhav Raghuwanshi and Suditi Sharma. The company offers a variety of products across several categories, including beauty, skincare, immunity boosters, and haircare.

To provide the best service to its customers, Himalayan Organics collaborates with nutritionists and dieticians to offer free consultations. The company mainly sources raw materials from the Himalayan region and uses natural ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, seeds, and nuts to manufacture its products.

In FY22, Himalayan Organics achieved revenue growth of 37%, increasing from INR 24 Cr in FY21 to INR 33 Cr. 

44. iD Fresh Food

Set up in 2005 by PC Musthafa, Abdul Nazer, Shamsudeen TK, Jafar and Noushad TA, iD Fresh Food offers a slew of ready-to-make food – dosa and idli batter, rice rava idli batter – in India as well as abroad. 

In January 2022, the Bengaluru-based D2C startup raised $68 Mn in its Series D funding round, thereby accumulating a total funding of $104 Mn. 

Currently, it is operating in more than 45 cities across the world such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Dubai, among others.

Its investors include NewQuest Capital Partner, Premji Invest, Sequoia Capital, Helion Ventures and Azim Premji.

45. Innovist

Innovist (formerly known as Onesto Labs), set up in 2018 by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana, and Vimal Bhola, sells personal care products under three brands – Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, and SunScoop.

In June 2022, Innovist secured $3.5 Mn in its pre-series A funding round led by Accel Partners and 72 Ventures. Manu Chandra from Sauce.vc, Jani Ventures Inc, CRED founder Kunal Shah and Alok Mittal from Indifi Technologies, among others, also participated in the round. 

In 2021, the startup had raised $2.5 Mn from 72 Ventures, Ramakant Sharma of Livspace, Suhail Sameer of BharatPe, and Sauce.vc. 

The startup mainly sells products via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. It also has an offline presence. 

46. Juicy Chemistry

Set up in 2014 by Megha Asher and Pritesh Asher, clean beauty startup Juicy Chemistry sells organic skin, hair and body care products. 

To manufacture these products, it procures ingredients from organic farmers in 20 countries. It develops these products at its ECOCERT-certified manufacturing unit, where it conducts rigorous quality checks to ensure that everything complies with ECOCERT’s organic standards.

To date, it has raised $7 in funding from a bunch of investors, including Verlinvest, Spring Marketing Capital, and Manoj Lifestyle. 

In November 2022, it launched an organic makeup range viz Color Chemistry. In FY22, it generated INR 29 Cr in revenue and sold nearly 75K products every month. 

In 2023, it aims to open 10 retail outlets and nearly 20 kiosks in major Tier-1 cities. It further aims to enter international markets like the Middle East, the UK and the US by 2025.

47. Kapiva

When the pandemic locked millions of Indians indoors back in 2020, the ancient Indian science of health Ayurveda suddenly turned into the flavour of the season. For Ameve Sharma, Ayurveda was never relegated to the margins. 

Hailing from the iconic 103-year-old Baidyanath family, the INSEAD and New York University-educated scion grew up witnessing how the age-old science helped people from all walks of people. After being inundated with queries from friends about ayurvedic medications, Sharma realised that there was a huge whitespace in the market and he sat down to build Kapiva. 

With more than 100 SKUs in its kitty, Kapiva sells Ayurvedic consumables and products such as juices, Shilajit, hair oil, shampoos, and resins, among others. 

At the heart of Kapiva’s operations is sourcing high-quality raw materials and ensuring global-standard processing. The startup is betting big on raising awareness, scaling product categories and enhancing quality for large-scale adoption. As a result of these, the startup claims to have seen 7.5X growth over the last three years.

Sharma recently told Inc42 that the company achieved revenue of INR 115 cr in the last financial year from its India business, while it is eyeing an annual revenue of INR 850 Cr by FY26 from its consolidated global operations, including India. 

Backed by names such as Vertex Ventures, Fireside Ventures, and 3one4 Capital, Kapiva has so far raised $15.77 Mn across multiple rounds. 

48. Koparo Clean

When the use of chemical-laden sanitisers for groceries and home cleaning saw an uptick during the pandemic, Simran Khara realised that these products could harm kids, pets and even adults.

Responding to the challenge, Khara, who hails from Delhi, launched a range of natural, toxin-free cleaning products under the brand name Koparo Clean in 2020. The D2C brand sells more than 15 products across categories such as core cleaning, speciality cleaning, and accessories.

It claims its products to be free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), synthetic dyes, ammonia, and parabens, among others. 

Opting for an omnichannel strategy, the company sells the products through ecommerce marketplaces, its website and more than 70 retail stores of Reliance Retail and Modern Bazaar.

The D2C brand recently disclosed plans to grow 8X by mid-2025. It is also looking at expanding its distribution points and introducing products.

In July 2023, the D2C brand raised a Pre-Series A funding of $1.5 Mn led by Saama Capital.

49. Lahori

Lahori, founded in 2017 by Saurabh Munjal, Saurabh Bhutna and Nikhil Doda, sells Indian beverages in four flavours – Zeera (cumin), Nimboo (lemon), Kacha Aam (raw mango) and Shikanji (lemonade) – across India. 

Lahori’s parent company Archian Foods creates approximately 1 Mn bottles in its manufacturing facility that are certified by FSSAI, ISI, HACCP, RoHS and Make In India. 

In January 2022, the Punjab-based startup received its first institutional funding of $15 Mn from Verlinvest for a minority stake in it. 

50. Lenskart 

Founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhury, and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart is an omnichannel eyewear brand. It has nearly 750 retail outlets in more than 175 cities. It claims to serve over 7 Mn customers annually. 

The eyewear unicorn has been on a spree of fundraising this year. In June, it secured a $100 Mn investment from private equity player ChrysCapital. This followed a capital infusion of $500 Mn from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for a 10% stake. Overall, Lenskart has raised nearly $850 Mn in the past year.

The unicorn is backed by marquee investors such as Chiratae Ventures, TPG, Premji Invest and Unilazer Ventures, among others.

Lenskart reported a consolidated loss of INR 102.3 Cr in FY22 versus a profit of INR 28.9 Cr in FY21. On the other hand, the startup’s revenue from operations zoomed 66% YoY to INR 1,502.7 Cr in the year ended March 2022, compared to INR 905.3 Cr in FY21.

51. LetsShave

Founded in 2015 by Sidharth Oberoi, LetsShave is a grooming brand that sells shaving kits, trial kits, blades and shaving foams.

The D2C grooming brand supplies razors to high-end hotels and hospitality brands such as Marriott, St. Regis, and Ritz Carlton.

Backed by South Korean razor giant Dorco Korea, LetsShave recently raised an undisclosed amount from its existing investor Wipro Consumer Care. The startup has raised more than $6 Mn till date.

The Chandigarh-based startup has a workforce of 57 employees and caters to clients in the UAE, the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and Europe.

52. Licious 

Licious, founded in 2015 by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta, sells a wide range of meat and seafood products such as mutton, prawns and kebabs. 

In March, the Bengaluru-based unicorn raised $150 Mn from Amansa Capital, Kotak PE, Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I, Nithin and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, Aman Gupta from boAt and Haresh Chawla from True North. So far, it has raised a total funding of $488 Mn from investors.

53. Mamaearth 

Mamaearth, founded in 2016 by Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh, started as a baby care products brand but later pivoted to become a personal care brand. Its product offerings include haircare, skincare and body care products.

The IPO-bound startup counts Fireside Ventures, Sequoia India, Rishabh Mariwala from Marico and Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal from Snapdeal among its investors. It has so far raised $111 Mn in funding across multiple rounds.

54. mCaffeine 

mCaffeine, founded in 2016 by Tarun Sharma, Mohit Jain, Saurabh Singhal, Vikas Lachhwani and Vaishali Gupta, sells a host of caffeine-based skin and hair care products ranging from soaps to scrubs to oil through its website and physical retail outlets.

In March 2022, the D2C startup secured over $31 Mn in its Series C funding round led by Paragon Partners. Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund, Sharrp Ventures, Amicus Capital Partners and RPSG Capital Ventures also participated in the round.

The startup has raised a total funding of $37.5 Mn to date. 

55. Melorra

Founded in 2016 by Saroja Yeramilli, Melorra sells a wide variety of gold jewellery for women via its website and offline stores. It claims to have a presence in 718 districts and over 2,800 towns in the country. 

In May 2022, it raised $16 Mn in its Series D funding round from Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I, SRF Family Office, N+1 and a slew of existing investors. The startup has so far raised a funding of $66.9 Mn.  

Mellora reported an operational revenue of INR 364.4 Cr in FY22, up 4.6X from INR 78.6 Cr during the previous fiscal year. Alongside, losses spiked 73.5% YoY to INR 106.7 Cr in FY22.

56. Minimalist 

Founded in 2020 by Mohit and Rahul Yadav, the Jaipur-based D2C startup sells a host of skin care products ranging from serums to moisturisers to toners. It retails products via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. 

In 2021, Minimalist secured $15 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India and Unilever Ventures. A bunch of international investors also participated in the funding round. 

57. Mosaic Wellness

Mosaic Wellness, founded in 2020 by Revant Bhate and Dhyanesh Shah, sells men and women-focused health and wellness products under the brands Manmatters and Bodywise. Both brands offer telemedicine services along with medicines, supplements and other allied products. 

The Mumbai-based D2C startup has built a content community for people to confer about their health and other related subjects. 

In 2021, it secured $24 Mn in its Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital India, Elevation Capital and Matrix Partners India. In total, it has raised a capital of $35.2 Mn to date. 

58. Mylo

Mylo, founded in 2018 by Vinit Garg, started as a community-based platform for new and expecting mothers and gradually turned into a personal care brand. Last year, it pivoted into a personal care startup offering over 100 stock-keeping units of ayurvedic products. 

In April, Mylo secured $17 Mn in its Series B funding round led by W Health Ventures, ITC Ltd and Endiya Partners. Riverwalk Holdings, Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital also participated in the funding round.

The D2C personal care startup has raised a funding of $24 Mn so far. 

59. Neemans

Founded in 2018 by Taran Chhabra and Amar Preet Singh, Neemans aims to upend the Indian shoe industry with natural, renewable, recycled and biodegradable fibres in its shoes. 

The company claims that its products have a considerably lower carbon footprint and lower impact on the water table compared to conventional products, which are dominated by synthetic fibres.

The startup has so far raised $9.8 Mn in funding and is backed by names such as Anicut Capital and Sixth Sense Ventures. With more than 3 Lakh users under its belt, the omnichannel brand prices its products anywhere between INR 2,999 and INR 6,999.

Earlier this year, the company also ventured into the apparel industry with the launch of its collection of clothes. 

The Hyderabad-based startup locks horns with the likes of international giants in the shoe industry such as Skechers, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, AJIo, among others.

60. Nestasia

Home decor brand Nestasia is the brainchild of Anurag Agarwal and Aditi Murarka Agarwal, whose passion for decorating and designing homes spawned the rise of the startup in 2019.

The D2C brand sells a range of home decor products such as crockery garden accessories, and kitchen utilities, among others. Unlike other marketplaces, which connect buyers and sellers, Nestasia operates a full-fledged D2C business that buys products from Indian artisans and then sells them directly to customers.

The startup last raised $4 Mn as part of its Series A funding round in December 2021, which saw participation from Stellaris Venture Partners, Mamaearth’s Varun Alagh, Delhivery’s Sahil Barua, and Livspace’s Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, among others. 

The D2C brand currently lists more than 6,000 products across eight key product categories and has so far fulfilled more than 1 Lakh orders. 

61. Noise

Founded in 2014 by Amit Khatri & Gaurav Khatri, Noise is a smart wearable and wireless headphones brand. It sells products on its website and ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart. 

The bootstrapped startup reported a 8% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit to INR 35.5 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) against a total income of INR 804.9 Cr during the same period, up over 2.2X YoY.

62. Nua 

Founded in 2017 by Ravi Ramachandran, Nua is a women-focused wellness brand. Its offerings include sanitary pads, skin care and intimate hygiene products. 

So far, it has raised $12.5 Mn in aggregate from the last four funding rounds. Its cap table includes Lightbox VC, Kae Capital and actor Deepika Padukone, among others. 

It claims to have served more than 5 Mn customers so far. It further asserts to have 10 SKUs and witnessing 50% of its customer base revisiting its website.

63. NutriGlow

Set up in 2011 by Aditi Suneja and Ashish Aggarwal, Nutriglow sells men and women-focused haircare, skincare, body care and make-up products via its website and ecommerce platforms. 

The Noida-based direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup claims that its beauty products have natural and certified organic ingredients and vegan-friendly and paraben-free formulations.

In June 2022, it secured an undisclosed amount of funding from ecommerce rollup GOAT Brand Labs for developing its infra and research and development (R&D). 

64. Organic Harvest

Founded in 2013 by Rahul Agarwal, Organic Harvest is an organic personal care brand that offers plant-based skincare, haircare, body care products and essential oils via online and offline channels.

According to its website, It claims to use ingredients and raw materials that are approved by international organisations – EcoCert, OneCert, and Natrue.  

At the beginning of 2022, it received a capital infusion of INR 75 Cr from Good Glamm Group in exchange for a majority equity. In March 2023, it was reported that the content-to-commerce unicorn was all set to buy out the entire 100% stake in Organic Harvest and would give an exit to the D2C brand’s founders by the end of next year.

It said that it operated 25K retail outlets as of October 2022 and looked to increase the number of its retail outlets to 1 Lakh by 2024.

65. Perfora

Jatan Bawa and Tushar Khurana crossed paths during the Jagriti Yatra, a two-week long entrepreneurship train journey, in 2016. With a wealth of experience garnered from startups such as OYO, Cure Fit, and Vahdam Teas, the two found common ground during the journey and eventually conceived the idea for an oral care brand, Perfora, in 2021.

Perfora offering a diverse range of oral care products, including electric toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwashes, flossers, teeth whitening products, and more.

This direct-to-consumer (D2C) oral care brand distributes its products through its official website and various e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, Blinkit, and others. Since its incorporation, Perfora boasts of serving over 2 Lakh customers.

Backed by notable investors such as RPSG Capital Ventures, Sauce.VC, Lotus Herbals Family Office, Huddle, and others, Gurugram-based Perfora has successfully raised a total of $3.7 Mn in funding through multiple rounds.

66. Pilgrim

After a combined experience of over two decades in the beauty and wellness industry, Anurag Kedia joined forces with fellow IIT Bombay alumni, Gagandeep Makker, to embark on an entrepreneurial journey.

At the core of their mission was the vision to craft vegan, cruelty-free, and toxin-free beauty products that would be accessible to the Indian market at affordable prices.

Together, they established Pilgrim in 2019. This D2C beauty brand distinguishes itself through the use of carefully sourced ingredients from around the world, spanning from South Korea to France. Pilgrim’s product range comprises items like hair growth serums, night serums, day creams, night gel creams, facial masks, and more.

With a portfolio of over 90 SKUs, Pilgrim earned recognition as one of the fastest-growing D2C brands, earning a place on the 2022 edition of Inc42’s FAST42 list. Pilgrim claims to have served more than 50 Lakh customers and add over 5 Lakh new customers every month.

Supported by prominent investors such as Fireside Ventures, Temasek, and Rukam Capital, Pilgrim has successfully secured nearly INR 214 crore in funding to date.

67. Pluckk

Incorporated in 2021 by Pratik Gupta, Pluckk is a D2C fruit and vegetable brand, which distinguishes itself by offering users a diverse selection of over 400 products spanning 15+ categories. These offerings include salads, dips, juices, cuts, mixes, and exotic fruits and vegetables.

Currently, Pluckk operates in major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Pune. It has plans to extend its presence to more cities in the coming years. The brand distributes its products through its dedicated app, website, and quick commerce platforms like Amazon, Swiggy, Dunzo, Zepto, and Reliance Signature Stores. 

In early 2023, Pluckk secured $5 Mn in seed funding from Exponentia Ventures. It has also secured an undisclosed amount of funding from actor Kareena Kapoor Khan.

68. Plum

Founded in 2013 by Shankar Prasad, Plum sells a wide variety of beauty products in skin care, hair care, personal care and makeup categories via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. It claims to operate nearly 1,500 assisted retail outlets and over 15,000 unassisted outlets throughout India.

In March 2022, the D2C beauty brand secured $35 Mn in its Series C funding round from A91 Partners, Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital. 

The startup generated revenue to the tune of INR 250 Cr in FY22 and has set its eyes on doubling its revenues in FY23 to INR 500 Cr. 

69. Power Gummies 

Founded in March 2018 by Divij Bajaj, nutraceutical startup Power Gummies sells flavoured and chewable vitamins for hair, nail and skin problems. Its products are gluten-free and certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Its revenue soared by over 6X to INR 54 Cr in FY22 as compared to INR 8.8 Cr a year ago. So far, it has sold over 40 Lakh products to more than 10 Lakh customers.

It plans to launch 40+ SKUs in the next five years, including a dedicated range for kids. It also looks to ramp up its presence in the UK and other international markets and build more manufacturing facilities to regulate production, daily operations and logistics.

To date, the startup has raised a total of INR $12.9 Mn in funding. Power Gummies’ cap table includes 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, DSG Consumer Partners, Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, and Sharpp Ventures.

70. Rage Coffee

Founded in 2018 by Bharat Sethi, Rage Coffee sells a host of coffee-based products across India. Certified by FDA, FSSAI and ISO, Rage Coffee claims to have so far served more than 7.5 Lakh customers and has 18 SKUs in its kitty.

In March, this Delhi-based food and beverage D2C brand received an undisclosed investment from Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. Prior to that, it secured nearly $5 Mn in its Series A funding round. 

In total, it has raised $7 Mn in capital from marquee names such as Sixth Sense Ventures, 9Unicorns, Refex Capital and Keiretsu Forum Chenna. 

Rage Coffee logged revenues of INR 23.5 Cr in FY22 and is targeting a revenue of INR 92 Cr by FY23-end. Earlier, it had also underlined plans to double down on its physical presence and scale its number of outlets to 10,000 by March 2023. 

71. Revour Consumers

Revour Consumers was founded in 2019 by Jaideep Singh Gaur and Ranjit Singh and specialises in selling kitchen and home-based electrical appliances. 

The startup partners with various OEMs to produce consumer electronics, including light bulbs, electric kettles, fans, and irons. 

Revour Consumer clocked a  revenue of INR 17.5 Cr FY22 and has so far served more than 30 Lakh customers across the length and breadth of the country. 

The startup has so far raised $1 Mn in funding and counts Oriano Clean Energy as its key investor. Going forward, the D2C brand plans to deepen its focus on consumer electronics and intends to introduce new product lines.

72. Sanfe

Founded in 2018 by Archit Aggarwal and Harry Sehrawat, Sanfe is a D2C femtech brand that started with the vision of addressing the stigma around women’s health and hygiene. After debuting with a roll-on to tackle period pain, the brand has now forayed into the beauty segment. 

In addition to sanitary and hygiene products, the company sells skin and hair products. The company claims to have catered to more than 10 Mn customers and sold 28 Mn-plus products by the end of FY21. 

Targeting Gen-Z and millennials, the company sells its products through its website and other ecommerce marketplaces. Backed by S Chand Family Office, Seeders and Lets Venture,  the D2C brand has raised $4.5 Mn in funding since its inception. 

73. Slurrp Farms

A dearth of healthy snacking options in the market for their kids brought two mothers —   Meghana Narayan and Shauravi Malik — to the discussion table. The duo found a big gap staring right at them in the kids’ snacks market. 

To fill in this gap, they founded Slurrp Farm in October 2016. The D2C brand sells a range of healthy products from ready-to-mix pancakes and dosas to noodles and pastas.

Slurrp Farms, which sells its products via its website and ecommerce marketplaces, caters to users in countries such as the UAE, the US, and the UK, apart from India.

Backed by the likes of the Investment Corporation of Dubai, Fireside Ventures and actor Anushka Sharma, Slurrp Farms has so far lapped up a total of around $9 Mn in funding. 

Building on its current growth momentum, the D2C snacks brand is eyeing a revenue of INR 500 Cr by 2025.

74. Soothe Healthcare

Set up in 2012 by Sahil Dharia, Soothe Healthcare sells sanitary napkin products and baby diapers under the brand Paree and Super Cute, respectively. It retails its products through various distribution channels including direct selling and selling through intermediaries.

In October 2022, Soothe Healthcare secured INR 175 Cr as part of a strategic funding round from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and other existing investors. With the funding round, the startup’s cumulative fundraise reached INR 301 Cr. 

Symphony International Holdings, Sixth Sense Ventures and badminton player Saina Nehwal are among its investors. 

75. SUGAR Cosmetics

SUGAR Cosmetics, founded in 2015 by Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, is an omnichannel D2C brand that sells products in lips, skin, eyes and nail care categories. It claims to operate more than 45,000 multi-brand stores spread across 500+ cities in the country. The D2C brand also has 125+ exclusive outlets in its kitty.

In May, the Mumbai-based D2C brand closed its $50 Mn Series D fundraising round led by L Catterton’s Asia fund. Existing investors A91 Partners, Elevation Capital and India Quotient also participated in the funding round.

The startup has so far raised a cumulative funding of $87.5 Mn from investors.

In the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), it widened its loss to INR 75 Cr, while revenue from operations stood at INR 221.1 Cr during the same period.

76. Super Bottoms

Pallavi Utagi’s tryst with entrepreneurship started when she, as a new mom, struggled to find quality diapers for her newborn baby. While conventional cloth diapers had absorbency issues, synthetic nappies left her baby with rashes.

Realising that there was a huge gap in the space, Utagi leveraged her years of research experience in the pharma space to launch her new venture Superbottoms – an eco-friendly and baby skin-friendly nappy brand – in 2016.

SuperBottoms’s range of products includes cotton ‘langots’, potty training pants, and kid’s clothing, among more.

In August 2023, the D2C brand secured $5 Mn as part of its Series A1 funding round led by Lok Capital and Sharrp Ventures. SuperBottoms is also backed by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital.

The startup retails its products via its website as well as Amazon and Flipkart. Leveraging its online presence, SuperBottoms doubled its revenues YoY to INR 40 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2022.

77. Sweet Karam Coffee

Brainchild of Anand Bharadwaj, Nalini Parthiban, Srivatsan Sundararaman and Veera Raghavan, Sweet Karam Coffee sells preservative-free South Indian sweets and snacks. Its range of offerings also includes the ubiquitous filter coffee and ready meal mixes, catering to audiences across the country.

Founded in 2015, the D2C brand aims to solve the problem of poor availability and accessibility of well-packaged traditional sweets and snacks, which are free from palm oil.

The brand SKC sells its products via its website and app and has customers in more than 32 countries. SKC competes with the likes of new-age startups such as id Fresh Food, DropKaffe, Chaayos, TagZ, among others.

Backed by Fireside Ventures, the startup picked up $1.5 Mn funding in October 2023. 

78. TagZ

The D2C snack brand came into the limelight after featuring in the maiden season of the TV show Shark Tank India and has not looked back since then. Founded in 2019 by Anish Basu Roy and Sagar Bhalotia, the company sells popped chips, which are neither baked nor fried.

The idea came from Roy’s experiences during his international travels, which pushed him to tinker around in the healthy snacks category. 

From the cricketer Shikhar Dhawan to 9 Unicorns, the backers of TagZ have pumped in over $4.2 Mn in the startup to date. The growth has also seen an uptick as the D2C brand claims to have logged a 30X increase in volumes in the past 18 months, ending May 2023. 

Retailed through 5,000 stores across 22 cities and via quick commerce platforms, TagZ also sells its products overseas in markets such as Kuwait, Dubai, Maldives and Australia.

79. Tailor And Circus

Back in 2016, Vasanth Sampath, Gaurav Durasamy and Abishek Elango came together to explore the idea of making antimicrobial, self-cleaning underwear for astronauts. In the subsequent months of research, they found that the homegrown men’s and women’s undergarment segment was plagued by basic issues such as lack of comfort and style.

After much deliberations, the idea of Tailor and Circus took shape and the startup was launched in 2016. The D2C brand manufactures underwear for both men and women, offering products such as trunks, bralettes and maternity undies. The startup also sells tops for both men and women and allows users to customise their products and build a matching underwear cart. 

The startup last raised seed funding of $241K from multiple angel and institutional investors in April 2021. It competes with the likes of homegrown brands such as Freecultr, XYXX, and DaMensch, among others.

The startup sells its products on marketplaces such as Amazon India and Myntra and through its own website. 

80. TenderCuts

Founded in 2016 by Nishanth Chandran, TenderCuts sells a wide variety of meat and seafood products such as chicken, mutton, eggs and frozen food products via its website and offline stores.

The startup last raised INR 110 Cr in a round led by Paragon Partners in February 2021. To date, it has raised $29.1 Mn in funding from marquee names such as Stride Ventures and Nabventures. 

In August 2023, the D2C meat delivery brand was acquired by omnichannel meat brand Good To Go in what appeared to be a distress sale for an undisclosed amount.

81. The Ayurveda Co. (T.A.C)

Founded in 2021 by Param Bhargava and Shreedha Singh, The Ayurveda Company manufactures and retails products across multiple categories such as haircare, wellness, skincare, immunity boosters and health supplements.

Opting for an omnichannel strategy, its 5,000 physical touchpoints traverse 18 cities across 15 Indian states, including Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. The startup is targeting to grow these retail points to more than 20,000 by FY25.

In March 2023, the D2C ayurvedic beauty and personal care brand raised INR 100 Cr in a Series A funding round led by consumer-centric venture fund Sixth Sense Ventures. 

Since its inception, T.A.C has raised $16 Mn in funding, across debt and equity, from marquee names such as Sixth Sense Ventures, Wipro Consumer Care Ventures and Vector NXG. 

82. The Beauty Co

Founded in 2018 by Suraj Raj Vazirani, The Beauty Co is a D2C personal care startup, which sells toxin-free body care, haircare, skincare and essential oils via its website and ecommerce marketplace such as Nykaa, Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, BigBasket and Snapdeal.

The startup’s founder claims that at least 99% of the ingredients used in The Beauty Co’s products are natural. It operated more than 40 stock keeping units as of 2022.

83. The Divine Foods

Founded in 2019 by Kiru Maikkapillai, The Divine Foods is a D2C superfoods brand that sells packaged products centred on Indian kitchen staples such as turmeric, moringa, millet, and others. 

Its products primarily encompass four categories, including women care, immunity boosters, diabetic care and kids. The D2C brand’s range of offerings include skincare products, mil mixes, powdered superfoods, and spreads.

Incubated under the Tamil Nadu government’s flagship seed funding scheme, TANSEED 4.0, the startup counts names such as superstar Nayanthara and her husband-director Vignesh Shivan as its investors. The Chennai-based D2C brand secured an undisclosed amount of funding from the celebrity duo in October 2023.

The startup claims to have so far served more than 25,000 customers and is available in five nations across the globe. 

84. The Moms Co

The Moms Co, founded in 2016 by Malika Sadani, sells organic products for expecting mothers and babies in the face, hair, pregnancy, and body care categories. It claims to have catered to more than a million customers since its inception. 

In 2021, the Delhi-based D2C brand was acquired by beauty unicorn Good Glamm Group. In March 2022, Inc42 reported that Good Glamm Group had increased its stake in The Moms Co to 90% from 75%.

At the end of September 2022, the brand claims to have had an offline presence in 5,000 retail outlets spanning 20,000 pin codes across the country.

85. The Pant Project

The Pant Project was founded by siblings Dhruv and Udit Toshniwal and offers customised bottom wear for both men and women, with free alterations and monogramming services provided to customers. 

Its products are primarily sold through its website and other e-commerce marketplaces, including Amazon.

In the fiscal year 2021-2022 (FY22), The Pant Project reported a revenue of INR 7.3 Cr, a significant increase compared to the INR 1 Cr earned in the previous fiscal year FY21.

86. The Sleep Company

The story of The Sleep Company starts with a baby. After taking care of their newborn at odd hours, entrepreneur couple Priyanka Salot and Harshil Salot were left aghast when their multiple attempts to buy a new mattress met a dead end. 

Realising the prevailing gaps in the sleep market, especially the lack of innovation, the duo decided to start their own venture and that’s how The Sleep Company was born. 

Since the startup’s inception in 2019, the Salots have scaled up the platform, grabbing the interest of multiple investors, including Fireside Ventures, Premji Invests and Alteria Capital.

The Sleep Company has so far raised INR 190 Cr and is eyeing to create an INR 1,000 Cr brand. With two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the D2C brand claims to produce 1.2 Lakh mattresses daily. 

The Sleep Company clocked a revenue of INR 58 Cr in FY22 and plans to open more than 100 stores across the country by March 2024. 

87. The Souled Store

Founded in 2013 by Vedang Patel, Harsh Lal, Aditya Sharma and Rohin Samtaney, The Souled Store is a casual wear and pop-culture D2C startup. It is said to have over 180 licences–Disney, Warner Bros, WWE, and Viacom18, to name a few. 

The omnichannel lifestyle brand recently raised INR 135 Cr in a strategic funding round led by Xponentia Capital. To date, the company has raised a total of INR 220 Cr from multiple investors.

Its cap table includes Elevation Capital, Sahil Barua from Delhivery, Gunjan Soni from Zalora, Revant Bhate from Mosaic Wellness and Ramakant Sharma from Livspace, among others. Its product offerings include top wear, bottom wear, innerwear and activewear.

88. The Woman’s Company

The moment Anika Parashar’s daughter hit puberty, she was gripped by questions about which feminine products were good enough. While researching, Parashar found that there was a huge gap in the market for female hygiene products, and it was this epiphany that set the ball rolling for her new venture, The Woman’s Company. 

After working as the COO of Fortis La Femme Hospitals for decades, she founded the startup in 2020, along with Roopam Gupta. The D2C brand operates in the women’s hygiene space and sells products such as sanitary pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and bamboo razors, among others. 

The D2C startup last raised $1.4 Mn in 2021 from marquee names such as Pradip Burman of Dabur. 

The startup sells its products through its website and marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa, among others. 

89. Vahdam Teas

Vahdam, founded in 2015 by Bala Sarda, is an online tea brand. It sells its products in domestic as well as international markets.

In September 2021, Vahdam reportedly secured INR 174 Cr in its Series D round led by IIFL AMC’s PE Fund. After the round, the startup claimed that it had raised INR 290 Cr in total funding from investors.

In FY22, it clocked a revenue of over INR 200 Cr, up from INR 161 Cr in FY21. However, the D2C brand slipped into the red as it reported a loss of INR 16 Cr in FY22 against a profit of INR 1.94 Cr in profit in FY21.

The startup aims to clock a net revenue of INR 500 Cr by 2024.

90. Voylla  

Voylla, founded in 2011 by Vishwas Shringi, is an online artificial and silver jewellery brand. It sells jewellery and other allied products through its website and ecommerce marketplaces. 

In 2021, Voylla was acquired by Thrasio-style D2C aggregator GOAT Brand Labs. Besides Voylla, GOAT Brand Labs also acquired 14 other brands, including Label Life, trueBrowns & Abhishti, Frangipani, Neemli and Nutriglow, among others.

Prior to the acquisition, Voylla had raised a total of $16.9 Mn funding in Series B and Series A funding rounds. Its cap table includes Peepul Capital, Snow Leopard Technology Ventures and a slew of other angel investors.

91. Wakefit 

Founded in 2016 by Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Wakefit sells a host of sleep and home decor products such as mattresses, pillows, bed frames, comforters, and back cushions, among others. It sells these products via its website and ecommerce marketplaces.

The Bengaluru-based startup manufactures products at its facilities in Bengaluru, Jodhpur and Delhi. In FY23, the startup launched 22 physical stores across 15 cities in the country. The brand clocked a revenue of INR 825 Cr in FY23 and is eyeing a revenue of INR 1,000 Cr by FY24. 

Wakefit has raised a total funding of $145 Mn so far. Its cap table includes Sequoia Capital, Verlinvest and SIG. 

92. Wellbeing Nutrition

An avid runner, Avnish Chhabria used to rue the lack of homegrown options for organic and plant-based nutritional supplements in India, which were necessary for him to stay at the top of his game. 

His dependence on global brands ignited the idea of building a desi plant-based vitamin and mineral supplements brand. With an eye on offering a better-priced alternative to a majority of Indians who could not afford to import plant-based supplements, Chhabria founded Wellbeing Nutrition at the fag end of 2019. 

Since then, it has rapidly scaled operations. It currently offers more than 53 SKUs and deploys an omnichannel strategy to woo customers. The brand manufactures plant-based vitamin and mineral supplements in the form of capsules, oral strips, and effervescents, among others. 

The startup partners with a global team of gastroenterologists to nutritionists to build its line of products. Besides, it sources its raw materials from more than 200 organic farms and certified companies from across 19 countries.

Its multi-pronged omnichannel strategy helped it clock a revenue of INR 19.5 Cr in FY22. The Mumbai-based D2C brand is eyeing 100 Mn customers and INR 100 Cr revenue in 2023. It plans to foray into the US, the UK and the UAE by 2025. 

Backed by the likes of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Fireside Ventures, Wellbeing Nutrition has so far raised $10Mn from multiple investors. Last year, HUL acquired a 19.8% equity in the startup.

93. Wellversed 

Founded in 2018 by Aanan Khurma, Aditya Seth and Ripunjay Chachan, Wellversed is a health and wellness brand. Its products are sold via its website and ecommerce marketplaces.

On an acquisition spree, the umbrella brand has acquired three startups – Sportfit, Rimoy Naturals and Ketofy – in the past four years to strengthen its house of brands. It claims to have offered over 12K health plans for weight loss, skin nourishment and other ailments to customers. 

It has raised a total of $3.2 Mn in funding from investors such as Jubilant Foodworks, Yuvraj Singh, KLUB Works and Velocity.

In the financial year 2021, it reported earnings from operations at INR 20 Cr.

94. Wingreens Farms 

Founded in 2011 by Anju Srivastava and Arun Srivastava, Wingreens Farms sells packaged food products such as sauces and spreads, spice mixes, breakfast cereals, non-dairy milk, and protein shakes, among others. It sells these products via its website and offline distribution network in more than 200 Indian cities.

In May 2022, the D2C food brand acquired Postcard’s parent company Dharmya Business Ventures for about $2.1 Mn in a cash and share swap deal.

In December 2021, it raised $17 Mn in its Series C funding round led by Investcorp. Subsequently, it also reportedly bagged INR 22 Cr in funding from Anicut Capital. So far, it has secured a total funding of $49.8 Mn from investors. 

95. WishCare

Founded in 2019 by Stuti Kothari, Ankit Kothari and Ayush Kothari, WishCare is a sustainable beauty care brand that sells a range of sustainable skincare and haircare products.

WishCare’s portfolio spans products such as hair treatments, hair growth serums, face serums, and body lotions. The company claims that its products are formulated with clinically proven ingredients.

The D2C brand sells its products through its own website as well as more than 15 ecommerce platforms such as Nykaa, Amazon, and Flipkart, among others. It currently claims to serve more than 10 Lakh customers. 

WishCare recently secured INR 20 Cr ($2.4 Mn) in its first round of funding from Unilever Ventures. 

96. Wonderchef 

Wonderchef, founded in 2009 by Ravi Saxena and celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, offers cookware, kitchen appliances, bakeware, and other allied culinary tools. It claims to operate 22 exclusive retail outlets and has served over 3 Cr customers so far.

In 2021, it secured INR 150 Cr in a funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures. Godrej Family Office, Malpani Group, and other high-net-worth individuals also participated in the funding round.

It claims to have over 500 SKUs and a presence in India, the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada, among others. It is looking to increase the count of its exclusive outlets to 100 by 2025.

97. Wooden Street 

Wooden Street, founded in 2015 by Lokendra Ranawat, Dinesh Pratap Singh, Virendra Ranawat and Vikas Baheti, sells furniture and home decor products such as modular furniture, kitchen and wardrobe, lighting and office furniture, among others, via its website.

It operates over 100 experience stores and 30+ warehouses across the length and breadth of the country. With 30,000 home furniture products in its kitty, the D2C brand claims to have served more than 15 Lakh customers in more than 300 Indian cities. It has several manufacturing facilities and R&D units in the country.

In April 2022, it secured around $30 Mn in its Series B funding round led by Westbridge Capital. Wooden Street then claimed that it grew its business 100% year-on-year over the previous three years, and aimed to attain a turnover of INR 600 Cr in the next two years. 

98. Wow Skin Science

Founded in 2014 by Manish Chowdhary and Karan Chowdhary, WOW Skin Science is a beauty and personal care brand. It sells a host of skincare, haircare, body care and nutraceutical products via its website. It claims to have 400 SKUs and has a presence in 30,000 general trade stores across the country.

In June 2022, the Bengaluru-based D2C skincare brand secured $48.02 Mn from Singapore-based GIC at a post-money valuation of $280 Mn. Prior to that, it raised $50 Mn from ChrysCapital.

In the financial year 2021-22, it reported losses of INR 135.83 Cr while its revenues grew 3.4X YoY to INR 343.94 Cr.

99. XYXX

Founded in 2017, XYXX is a D2C menswear brand that sells a range of products across categories such as underwear, loungewear and athleisure. It is also the brainchild of Yogesh Kabra. 

What works in favour of the brand is its fashionable touch and skin-friendly fabrics that it claims is suitable for India’s humid climate. The idea germinated after Kabra realised that there was a big gap in the Indian men’s innerwear market, which suffered across the board from style to comfort. 

Leaving aside his father’s textile business, Kabra jumped into the fray and pursued his entrepreneurial talent, the result of which is XYXX. 

The D2C brand has also seen a warm response from investors. It recently bagged INR 110 Cr as part of its Series C funding round led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund. Since its inception, the startup has raised INR 390 Cr in multiple rounds of funding. 

With 1,000-plus SKUs, XYXX sells its products online on 14 ecommerce platforms as well as its website. It also claims to operate multi-brand outlets (MBOs) and exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) across more than 18,000 touchpoints in 150+ Indian cities. The startup closed FY22 with a revenue of INR 57 Cr.

100. Zappfresh

Founded in 2015 by Deepanshu Manchanda and Shruti Gochhwal, ZappFresh is a Gurugram-based D2C meat delivery startup. The startup grew in prominence as customers preferred online avenues to order their meat as pandemic locked people indoors. 

Backed by names such as SIDBI Venture Capital, Dabur Family Office, LetsVenture and Keiretsu Forum, ZappFresh has so far raised $7.9 Mn in funding. The startup recently acquired Dr. Meat for an undisclosed amount to mark its foray into Bengaluru. 

Banking on its growth numbers, Zappfresh is targeting INR 300 Cr in overall revenue by end of FY24 as it eyes deeper penetration in Southern India. It competes with the likes of players such as Licious as well as quick commerce players such as Swiggy Instamart, and Blinikit, among others.

101. Zivame 

Zivame, founded in 2011 by Richa Kar and Kapil Karekar, sells lingerie, activewear, shapewear and sleepwear via its website and offline retail stores. 

The startup had earlier claimed that nearly 42% of its sales come from Tier-2 and 3 cities in India. 

In 2020, Reliance Brands acquired a 15% stake in Zivame. Following this, the conglomerate also announced the acquisition of an 89% stake in the lingerie brand for a consideration of INR 950 Cr last year.

Zivame claims to have built an offline presence in more than 30 retail stores and more than 800 partner stores across the country.

This is a running article, we will keep adding more names to the list.

Last Updated:  December 21, 2023. The listicle has been updated to add three new brands.

The post 101 D2C Brands That Are Disrupting India’s Consumer Market appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Social media platform ShareChat today fired around 200 employees in a second round of layoffs this year to cut costs, sources told Inc42.

The startup confirmed the development with Inc42. In a statement, it said that the “comprehensive restructuring effort”, which resulted in reduction in its team size by about 15%, was aimed at streamlining operations, enhancing productivity, and positioning the company for sustainable growth.

“ShareChat, today undertook a strategic restructuring as part of its annual planning for the year 2024. The decision reflects the company’s commitment to streamlining its cost base and achieving profitability within the next 4-6 quarters,” the statement said. 

However, the startup did not disclose the severance pay that will be paid to the impacted employees.

As per the sources, the employees were informed about the restructuring exercise today in a one-on-one call with the management team. 

The layoff exercise came almost 11 months after ShareChat fired around 500 employees, or about 20% of its workforce.

As per the EPFO portal, the startup credited PF amount for 1,281 employees in November 2023 as compared to 2,346 employees in November 2022.

The retrenchments in January this year came on the back of ShareChat parent Mohalla Tech shutting down its fantasy gaming platform Jeet11 in December 2022, which resulted in 100 employees losing their jobs.

In January this year, two of ShareChat’s cofounders – Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan – also resigned. Following this, they founded a robotics startup General Autonomy and raised $3 Mn seed funding for it last month from venture capital firms India Quotient and Elevation Capital.

Besides, the founder exits and employee layoffs, ShareChat is also struggling to raise capital. As per a TechCrunch report, the startup is in talks to raise a much needed $50 Mn at a valuation under $1.5 Bn. In March last year, the startup touched the peak valuation of $5 Bn after adding Temasek to its captable. As of date, ShareChat has raised a total of $1.7 Bn in funding across multiple rounds and counts the likes of Lightspeed Ventures, Twitter, and Google among its backers. 

ShareChat’s net loss jumped 38.17% to INR 4,064.31 Cr in FY23 from INR 2,941.51 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The bottom line took a hit despite its operating revenue surging 62% to INR 540.21 Cr from INR 332.69 Cr in FY22.

Meanwhile, its total income increased 54.90% to INR 628.85 Cr from INR 405.96 Cr in FY22. Effectively, it spent INR 7.46 to earn every rupee in FY23.

The post Exclusive: ShareChat Fires Nearly 200 Employees In Second Layoff Exercise This Year appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Gaming unicorn Nazara Technologies has announced its partnerships with four Indian game studios to publish five casual and mid-core games in India.

In an exchange filing on Wednesday (December 20), Nazara said that this initiative is part of its new publishing division, focusing on promoting the ‘Make in India’ vision in the gaming sector.

The company is planning to publish ‘Gravity Shooter’ by Smash Head Studios, ‘World Cricket League’ from Wandermind Labs’, ‘Hacked: Password Puzzle’ by Pixcell Play and ATG Studios’ ‘Laser Tanks’ and ‘Paperly’.

Since its inception a month ago, Nazara Publishing has received a remarkable response from both Indian and international game developers, the company said in its statement. The Indian gaming major offers financial investment as well as comprehensive support, including mentorship, user acquisition, and live operations expertise. 

Nazara has allocated a substantial fund for the publishing division and aims to publish 20 games within the next 12 to 18 months by investing in a range of INR 1 Cr-INR 3 Cr per game.

Speaking on the new partnerships, Nitish Mittersain, joint managing director and chief executive of Nazara Technologies said that the Nazara Publishing division, enriched with innovative AI-led tools from the new Nazara SDK, is set to foster the growth and development of game creators.

As a gaming and sports media platform, the company has a footprint in India and other emerging and global markets such as Africa and North America. Over the last few years, Nazara Technologies has bolstered its offerings by making multiple strategic acquisitions in companies including NODWIN, SportsKeeda and others. 

Earlier this year, the company also increased its majority stake in mobile gaming studio Nextwave.

Nazara Technologies’ consolidated profit after tax (PAT) jumped 53% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 24.2 Cr in Q2 FY24 on an operating revenue of INR 297.2 Cr, which grew 13% YoY.

Recently, the company also raised a fresh capital of INR 510 Cr from investors including Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath and SBI Mutual Fund. Speaking to Inc42, Mittersain had said that the company would invest the fresh funds in gaming studios capable of producing top-tier games tailored for both the Indian and global markets.

The post Nazara’s Publishing Division Partners With Four Indian Gaming Studios appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative for India, tech giant Google has rolled out a host of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features for maps, which include address descriptors, lens integration and live-view walking navigation.

These features were designed to offer a more tailored and localised map experience for Indian users, Google said in a statement.

“In India, Google Maps has mapped Mns of kilometres of roads and 300 Mn buildings, serving Mns of users with over 50 Mn daily searches. AI technology enhances commute decisions, providing traffic predictions for over 2.5 Bn kilometres of directions daily. Google Maps features information on 30 Mn businesses, fostering over 900 Mn monthly connections between consumers and businesses,” the statement added.

Let’s take a look at the new features: 

A Comprehensive Map Localised For The Needs Of Indian Users

In the past few years, Google Maps has focused on adding key places like worship centres, medical facilities, and government services to better serve Indian users. Address Descriptors, a new India-first innovation, enhances address understanding by automatically identifying up to five relevant landmarks and area names around a pinned location. This feature simplifies location sharing, making it easier for users to navigate unfamiliar areas. 

“We launched this capability earlier this year for developers in India on Google Maps Platform to help them benefit from more intuitive addressing solutions. We’re now expanding this to developers across over 75 cities in the country,” as per a Google report.

More Visual And Immersive Maps For Navigation

The company has introduced Lens in Maps and Live View walking navigation. A year after Street View was launched, Google Maps now allows its users to view and explore over 3,000 cities and towns.

Lens in Maps allows instant identification of nearby restaurants and cafes through the camera, launching in 15 cities by Jan 2024. Live View walking navigation, featuring arrows and distance markers, will cover over 3,000 cities in India, starting with Android. These innovations combine Street View imagery with advanced AI and AR technologies to provide immersive experiences.

Catering To India’s Diverse Mobility Needs

Google Maps is introducing a fuel-efficient routing feature in India for both four-wheelers and two-wheelers by January next year, promoting sustainability. This feature, already estimated to have prevented 2.4 Mn metric tons of CO2e globally, considers real-time traffic data, road elevation, and vehicle type. 

“Over the years, we have partnered with numerous local authorities towards this goal, enabling Mns of users to find information about various modes of public transport including metros, trains, and buses in over 20 Indian cities.”

For public transport users, the Where Is My Train app, used by over 80 Mn people monthly, is expanding to cover Mumbai and Kolkata Local Trains, offering information on schedule changes, delays, and platform numbers. 

In December 2018, Google acquired Bengaluru-based startup Sigmoid Labs, the company behind the app “Where is My Train”. The app was created to improve the experiences of millions of Indian train travellers through technology. 

On Tuesday, Google also announced partnerships with ONDC and Namma Yatri, which aims to bring metro schedules and bookings to users. It is expected to launch by mid-next year with Kochi Metro on Google Maps powered by Namma Yatri, followed by other metros as they join the ONDC Network. 

As per Future Market Insights, the digital map market is expected to be valued at $18.3 Bn in 2023, with a projected growth of $73.1 Bn by 2033. The market is anticipated to achieve a CAGR of 14.8% during the period from 2023 to 2033. 

Meanwhile, Google Maps rival MapmyIndia is looking to raise INR 500 Cr by issuing equity shares through a qualified institutional placement (QIP).

The post Google Unveils AI-Powered Features For Maps In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based coworking space provider BHIVE has acquihired product-engineering firm Praemineo to bolster its support for the fast-growing coworking and fintech businesses.

However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

“The transaction comprises a composite structure involving both cash and equity. As part of this acquihire, BHIVE will absorb a 10-member team along with cofounders Rohit Parab and Gaurav Gandhi, who will support growth and business management at BHIVE Group,” the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the acquihire, Shesh Rao Paplikar, founder & CEO of BHIVE Group said, “As a new age organisation, BHIVE is always on the lookout to identify occupiers’ pain points and solve it through our business and technology offerings while joining hands with companies in the ecosystem where we find synergies.”

The acquihire will enhance BHIVE’s capabilities in financial management, approvals processing, issue identification, lead generation, and understanding decision-making processes. This strategic move aims to streamline the efficient management of the company’s 1.5 Mn square feet of coworking space across 25 locations and strengthen the fintech arm of the group.

Rohit Parab and Gaurav Gandhi, cofounders of Praemineo said, “With an ever-expanding portfolio of coworking spaces across Bengaluru, it becomes imperative to efficiently manage the various associated activities related to the business which is where the Praemenio team will play an active role.”

In 2023, BHIVE expanded by one million square feet, transforming its offerings. The recent acquihire is set to boost BHIVE’s business efficiencies and enhance fiscal prudence. 

In June, BHIVE unveiled India’s largest shared office space in the city, spanning 2 acres with over 8,000 seats.

In August BHIVE also announced its decision to wind up the AIF managed by Gupta and launch a new coworking-focussed category II alternative investment fund (AIF) of INR 400 Cr.

Founded in November 2014, BHIVE Group manages BHIVE Workspace and Bhive Alts. BHIVE Workspace is among the largest coworking space providers in Bengaluru and currently houses over 1000 SMEs and startups.

Currently, BHIVE operates exclusively in Bengaluru but plans to expand to six major cities in India by June 2024.

Bhive Alts, as per the company’s website, oversees assets under management (AUM) exceeding 160 Cr, with a platform that caters to over 45,000 investors. This business focuses on granting retail investors access to alternative investments.

According to a Mordor Intelligence report, the current size of the India coworking office spaces market is $1.78 Bn. It is expected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 7% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2028.

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Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen startup Curefoods, which counts Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures, IronPillar, Chiratae Ventures, ASK Finance and Winter Capital among its marquee investors, has infused INR 10 Cr ($1.2 Mn) into food discovery platform Hogr in its seed funding round.

Curefoods’ latest investment comes within a week of it appointing former Tata Starbucks chief executive officer Avani Davda to its board.

Hogr will use the fresh capital to expand its outreach, refining its features and unveiling updates to elevate the overall user experience.

Founded by Jugul Thachery and Harish Harshan in June this year, Hogr allows users to discover restaurants and dishes through personalised recommendations from contacts, family, friends and fellow food enthusiasts with similar tastes. It provides tailored suggestions for informed dining choices and facilitates building a diverse food network through an easy recommendation system.

Bengaluru-based Hogr aims to revolutionise traditional dish and restaurant discovery. The app streamlines the process, making it easy for users to discover new culinary experiences and share recommendations with a social network of food enthusiasts, Curefoods said in a statement.

“We see Hogr as more than just an app. We strive to create a community where food enthusiasts come together to share the joy of discovering new dishes and places to eat, fostering social connections through this platform,” said Thachery. 

Commenting on the funding, Ankit Nagori, founder of Curefoods, said, “We have noticed that Hogr addresses and streamlines the challenge of discovering new dishes and restaurants, as well as forms a food community via peer-to-peer recommendations. This aspect intrigued us and motivated our decision to invest in this app.” 

Founded by Nagori in 2020, Curefoods houses brands such as EatFit, Cakezone, Nomad Pizza, Sharief Bhai Biryani and Frozen Bottle. The startup claims to be running over 200 cloud kitchens and offline stores that cater to over 10 cuisines across 15 cities in India.

Curefoods has so far raised around $220 Mn in funding from more than 25 investors. It is also on an expansion spree in the food sector. 

It recently acquired foodtech startup Yumlane for an undisclosed amount.

In July this year, Curefoods also made a strategic investment in Hyderabad-based millet startup Millet Express to help it expand and reach a wider audience for millet-based products. 

The investment in Millet Express came two months after Curefoods raised INR 300 Cr ($37 Mn) in a funding round led by Three State Ventures. The round was a mix of primary and secondary equity and debt.

Earlier, Curefoods acquired startups such as subscription-based home-cooked meals startup Masala Box, Indian breakfast startup Paratha Box, online confectionery chain CakeZone, biryani brand Ammi’s Biryani, pizza brands Olio and Crusto’s and online chaat brand Chaat Street.

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The Supreme Court has refused to grant an interim relief against Goods and Services Tax (GST) demand notices to e-gaming companies Games24x7 and Head Digital Works.

As per Monecontrol’s report, the court, however, indicated that it will consider a case on the constitutional validity of the government’s decision to impose 28% GST on online gaming companies retrospectively on the full value of the bets placed, and not on the gross gaming revenue, from October 1.

Harish Salve, senior advocate for online gaming companies, urged the court to direct the government not to take action on the demand notices until the Supreme Court reviews the case. He informed the court about the constant probes by the GST department, putting pressure on the companies. 

Salve told the court that while they are providing the requisite details, any adverse order will put these companies under further pressure.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Venkatraman, representing the government, requested a deferral of the case hearing, citing a lack of proper instructions. Consequently, the court postponed the hearing to January 8.

This comes at a time when the online gaming space has been reeling under the impact of the recent GST changes, as per which a 28% tax would be levied on the full value of bets placed in online games, regardless of whether it involves games of skill or chance.

The online gaming industry in India is currently facing a multitude of challenges. In addition to ongoing concerns related to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the real money gaming sector, online gaming companies have reportedly received show-cause notices for suspected tax evasion amounting to a significant sum of INR 1 Lakh Cr.

In light of the evolving tax and regulatory environment, several online gaming platforms have taken the step to temporarily suspend their operations. Platforms such as Quizzy, OWN, and Fantok have opted to halt their operations in response to these changing dynamics.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based Gameskraft made a similar strategic decision by shelving its fantasy gaming offering, Gamezy Fantasy, in September.

Earlier, the parent entity of Games24x7 also received a notice amounting to INR 21,000 Cr from tax authorities.

It is pertinent to note that besides facing financial and other troubles after the implementation of the new GST regime for real money gaming in October, online gaming firms have also been receiving show-cause notices from the tax authorities for alleged GST evasion.

Further, the Indian government is thinking about creating a Group of Ministers (GoM) to set up rules for the online gaming industry and address related issues.

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Mobile Premier League (MPL)-backed Web3 fantasy gaming platform Striker has reportedly become the latest casualty of the GST Council’s decision to levy 28% GST on the online gaming sector. 

The gaming platform is winding up its operations, Moneycontrol reported citing sources. However, there was no clarity on the timeline for the shut down and what will happen to the company’s existing employees. Even cofounder Krishna Mohan Vedula has reportedly left the company. 

MPL declined to comment on Inc42’s queries on the development. 

Founded in 2022 by former MPL employees Vedula and Nitesh Jain, Striker allows users to collect and trade digital collectibles and cards centred around cricket. Users also have the option of redeeming and trading these cards on Striker marketplace to earn money. It also allows customers to make fantasy cricket teams and compete in contests and win prizes. 

MPL provided tech and infrastructure support to the startup. 

Meanwhile, Striker has been in the eye of the storm for quite some time. The 28% GST only added to its woes. The MPL-backed startup was locked in a full-fledged legal case earlier this year with Dream Sports-backed Rario over the former’s non-fungible token (NFT)-focussed fantasy gaming offerings. 

In a petition before the Delhi High Court (HC), Rario had alleged that Striker’s collectibles used identifiers and caricatures of nearly 170 cricketers that the Dream Sports-backed company had exclusive licences for. 

Eventually in April this year, the HC threw out Rario’s plea seeking interim injunction, noting that the data used by Striker was publicly available and could be used by anyone.

A few months later in October, 28% GST on real money gaming came into effect and left the entire ecosystem in troubled waters. Striker too was badly hit. This piled on top of 30% tax levied on profits from trading of virtual digital assets and 1% TDS that took away users from Striker and left it further deep in trouble. 

As crypto and gaming space became less attractive bets for investors, waning user numbers, a major legal case and funding winter set Striker on a downward path. 

However, Striker is not alone in this. The 28% GST has also hit its peers hard in the online gaming ecosystem. While many such as Fantok and Quizzy have temporarily shut down operations, others such as MPL and Hike have resorted to mass layoffs to cut costs and streamline operations.

Striker’s competitor Rario, earlier this year, saw a full-scale internal tussle between cofounders Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot and investors. After a tug of war, the two were said to be reportedly exiting the company while investor Dream11 began exerting more control over the operations of the firm.

MPL Acquires Good Game Exchange

Meanwhile, the crypto sector continues to see a consolidation wave. MPL has reportedly acquired NFT marketplace Good Game Exchange (GGX) for $12.75 Mn. 

As per Entrackr, the MPL board has passed a special resolution to acquire the business and assets of GGX Protocol and is buying out the tokens of the startup’s existing investors. The deal, however, involves the issuance of 25.19 Lakh Series E preference shares to the existing investors of GGX as payout for the acquisition.

It is pertinent to note that MPL acquired a 20% stake in GGX in 2022 while the majority of ownership still lay in the hands of investors and staff members. 

As the entire ecosystem braces for a meltdown and increased compliance, it remains to be seen how the Indian online gaming ecosystem emerges from the shadow of this regulatory quagmire and the raging funding winter. 

The post Another Casualty Of 28% GST? MPL-Backed Striker To Shut Operations appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods, floated by Cure.fit cofounder Ankit Nagori, has appointed former Tata Starbucks chief executive officer Avani Davda to its board.

The Bengaluru-based startup, which counts Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures, IronPillar, Chiratae Ventures, ASK Finance and Winter Capital as among its marquee investors, aims to strengthen the depth of proficiency and leadership at hand with this appointment, it said in a statement on Thursday (December 14).

Davda, who currently serves as an independent director in Mahindra Logistics and JSW Paints, has over 20 years of experience across multiple companies, especially in the food and beverage (f&b) space.

Currently, she also serves as a strategic advisor to Bain Advisory Network and had served as the managing director and CEO at Godrej Nature’s Basket. Prior to that, she served Tata Global Beverages as the vice president and eventually moved on to lead Starbucks as its CEO. 

“Avani’s expertise and years of experience in the f&b industry adds a fresh perspective of thought and direction to the brand and its strategy,” Nagori said.

Founded in 2020, Curefoods houses brands like EatFit, Cakezone, Nomad Pizza, Sharief Bhai Biryani and Frozen Bottle among others. The startup claims to be running over 200 cloud kitchens and offline stores that cater to over 10 cuisines across 15 cities in India.

The startup said in a statement that it will continue to focus on growth, expansion in offline restaurant category and the overall initial public offering (IPO) preparedness.

It added that this onboarding marks a significant milestone, as it looks at onboarding more experts on their leadership in 2024 and plans further growth strategy.

Curefoods has so far raised around $220 Mn in funding from more than 25 investors. It is also on an expansion spree in the food sector. 

The startup recently acquired foodtech startup Yumlane for an undisclosed amount. As a part of this acquisition, Yumlane will leverage the reach of Curefoods to boost its proprietary pizza technology.

In July 2023, it also made a strategic investment in Hyderabad-based millet startup Millet Express to help it expand and reach a wider audience for millet-based products.

This investment was followed by a $37 Mn funding round led by Three State Ventures. 

It has earlier acquired startups such as subscription-based home-cooked meals startup Masala Box, Indian breakfast startup Paratha Box, online confectionery chain CakeZone, biryani brand Ammi’s Biryani, pizza brands Olio and Crusto’s and online chaat brand Chaat Street.

The post Curefoods Ropes In Ex-Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Davda On Its Board appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Elon Musk-led xAI is rapidly expanding its generative artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot Grok AI into India and 46 other countries including Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore among others, within a week of its US launch.

The bot is currently accessible to subscribers of X Premium+, the top subscription tier of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. 

xAI’s foray into the Indian market comes at a time when ChatGPT developer OpenAI is navigating the country’s policies and regulations to venture into the AI space. 

X rolled out Grok on December 8. “Access to @grok is now rolling out to Premium+ subscribers in the US over the next week. You can find Grok in the side menu on web, iOS, and Android,” the platform said in a tweet.

Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, said, “Grok is now gracing the world in even more countries, spreading knowledge and laughter far and wide. The future is looking brighter already!”

In October, X launched the Premium+ tier, which offers users an ad-free experience. Priced at $16 per month, subscribers enjoy various benefits, including the ability to edit tweets, post longer text or videos and participate in ad revenue sharing.

For Indian users, the Premium+ tier is available at INR 1,300 per month on the web or INR 2,150 per month on mobile apps.

Grok challenges OpenAI‘s ChatGPT and operates on the Grok-1 AI model. 

It is pertinent to note that Musk was one of the cofounders of OpenAI in 2015 and after three years he stepped down from the company’s board of directors.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is set to host its inaugural developer meetup in Bengaluru next month as the ChatGPT developer looks to penetrate deeper into India’s AI space. 

This comes at a time when Sam Altman’s OpenAI is reportedly partnering with Rishi Jaitly, former Twitter India head, to gain insights into and navigate India’s policies and regulations concerning the AI landscape.

Although OpenAI does not have an official presence in India, it recently secured trademark approval. 

According to IMARC Group, the AI market in India was valued at $680.1 Mn in 2022. Projections suggest a significant growth with an expected market size of $3,935.5 Mn by 2028, showcasing a CAGR of 33.28% from 2023 to 2028. The surge is fuelled by factors such as government initiatives, rapid digitisation, increasing demand for AI solutions across industries and continuous innovations.

The post Elon Musk’s Grok AI Chatbot Enters India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

OpenAI is set to host its inaugural developer meetup in Bengaluru next month as the ChatGPT developer looks to penetrate deeper into India’s artificial intelligence (AI) space. 

This comes at a time when Sam Altman’s OpenAI is reportedly partnering with Rishi Jaitly, former Twitter India head, to gain insights into and navigate India’s policies and regulations concerning the AI landscape.

Although OpenAI does not have an official presence in India, it recently secured trademark approval. 

During a session at the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) Summit on Tuesday (December 12), Anna Makanju, vice president of Global Affairs at OpenAI, said that the gathering will mark the commencement of OpenAI’s engagement in the Indian market, ET reported.

“We will hold a developer gathering with our vice-president of engineering, Srinivas Narayanan in Bangalore, in January—with more to follow. We plan to convene developers in India to work with OpenAI product leaders on some of the most difficult products and safety challenges,” Makanju said.

OpenAI, along with other major global technology players such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia, forms part of the 29-nation delegations participating in GPAI 2023. 

Speaking at the GPAI Summit in New Delhi, Makanju discussed the company’s focus on advancing AI safety and capacity following recent leadership changes. 

Makanju further highlighted OpenAI’s collaboration with the farmer welfare organisation Digital Green, aiding India’s agriculture ministry in cost-effective agricultural extension services. 

The initiative employs a chatbot providing location-specific guidance in multiple languages. The tool is set to launch in 10 states by early 2024, with plans for nationwide availability.

In June, Altman met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his trip to New Delhi and expressed interest in investing in Indian startups. “We had some discussions about investing in Indian startups, and we would love to explore opportunities in that space.”

Founded as a non-profit by Altman, Elon Musk, and others in 2015, OpenAI later introduced a for-profit arm in 2019. Originally focused on creating beneficial AI for humanity, the launch of ChatGPT, a consumer chatbot app, propelled OpenAI into the mainstream, establishing itself as a leading company in AI. 

In October, a report from The Information revealed that according to Altman, OpenAI is achieving an annual revenue rate (ARR) of $1.3 Bn

The post OpenAI To Host Developer Gathering In Bengaluru To Discuss AI Safety appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Studies reveal that one in four Singaporeans dine out daily, while 80% opt for at least one restaurant meal every week. This shift away from traditional home-cooked meals has stemmed from broader socio-economic changes such as busy lifestyles, increased affluence and, most importantly, the rise of on-demand food delivery services riding the wave of ubiquitous digital tech and the smartphone economy.

But the dynamics of change are not limited to the island nation alone. In the past decade, India has witnessed a similar transformation in eating habits, driven by the rapid growth of the online food delivery segment. As mentioned by Statista, a Rakuten survey in December 2022 found that most Indian respondents aged 16-54 dined out at least once a week. 

Given the exponential growth across India, the online food delivery market volume is estimated to reach $81.9 Bn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 19.7% during 2023-2028. However, this surge would not have been possible without the sturdy industry stalwarts – Zomato and Swiggy – who lay the groundwork for the food-delivery ecosystem.

Both leverage the techvantage of a digital-first ecosystem to cater to the diverse Indian food palate but compete fiercely for a bigger market share. Zomato has maintained a sizable lead over its closest competitor in terms of execution. But is Swiggy lagging far behind or breathing down its rival’s neck?

An assessment of the year gone by (2023) and the outlook for 2024 will reveal these interesting ground realities and the shape of things to come.    

Is It Zomato All The Way In 2023?

The narratives of Gurugram-based Zomato, now a listed company, and its unlisted peer Swiggy from Bengaluru are not analogous. However, much of their growth is the direct outcome of innovative marketing strategies (more on that later) and lucrative sales tactics such as discounts, cashback deals, exclusive offers and attractive loyalty programmes.

These sureshot bets (to say nothing about their expansive reach in the pan-India restaurant market) have lured gastronomes to online food-ordering over the years. Subsequently, engagement has increased and customer loyalty has split into two distinct camps. (Take a look at the app download comparison.)

The Zomato-Swiggy face-off in the food-delivery space has been accelerated by sustained investor interest. Together, these industry leaders have raised $5.4 Bn for strategic acquisitions, cloud kitchens and implementation of value-added services. More importantly, their deep pockets and industry dominance slowly squeezed out other players from the arena.

For instance, ride-hailing giant Uber India’s food delivery business UberEats was acquired by Zomato in early 2020, while Ola completed the 100% acquisition of Foodpanda (India) in early 2022 from Germany-based Delivery Hero.  

The outcome: The industry has a duopoly now where the arch-rivals claim nearly identical market shares in India. However, Zomato maintained its lead with a 54% market share compared to Swiggy’s 46% in the food delivery space as of H1 2023, according to reports.

Although it has not been a smooth ride for either of the companies in 2023, Zomato has taken the lead in several critical areas to hold strong as an icon of India’s post-pandemic gig economy boom. Here is a look at how the companies have fared this year.   

Zomato Tops The Consumer Sentiment Survey

According to Inc42’s Consumer Sentiment Survey 2023, done in collaboration with Clootrack, Zomato emerged as the preferred online food delivery service among Indian consumers.

The conclusion was based on a Clootrack analysis of more than 24K user reviews on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store between January 1 and November 22. The findings underscore Zomato’s stronghold and positive reception in the highly competitive food aggregation, online ordering and delivery market.

The survey also revealed that key success metrics, including offers and discounts, food quality, customer service, delivery time and interactions with delivery partners, received high scores for Zomato on a scale of 1-5, where 1 signified the lowest and 5 represented the top score for consumer experience.

Zomato Sweeps The Field In App Downloads

According to an Inc42-AppTweak analysis, the combined monthly app downloads of Zomato and Swiggy averaged 7.6 Mn and reached a total of 83.5 Mn between January and November 2023. Zomato led with 47.5 Mn downloads (56.9%), while Swiggy recorded 36 Mn (43.1%).

It is worth noting that the Swiggy app covers its grocery services (Instamart) and restaurant deals and discovery (Dineout) vertical besides food delivery.

Although Zomato has integrated UberEats’ operations with its own to strengthen the food delivery business, its quick commerce platform Blinkit (formerly Grofers, which was acquired in 2022) operates via a separate app. It has seen 14 Mn downloads in 2023 (excluding December data), and combined with Zomato’s download numbers, puts the parent company in a superior position.

But Financial Dips, Critical Exits – Who Has Weathered It Better

Zomato faced a challenging start to 2023, marked by the departure of its CTO, Gunjan Patidar. A subsequent 2% dip in its share prices was followed by an 8% decline, hitting its lowest since July 2022. Despite the setback, Zomato’s consolidated revenue for Q3FY23 (October-December 2022) surged by 1.75x to INR 1,948 Cr, but the foodtech giant saw a 5x spike in losses, reaching INR 346.6 Cr. 

Not only this, it liquidated its subsidiaries in Jordon, Czech, Portugal while in process of shutting operations in the Philippines and Indonesia with active operations only in India and the UAE. 

Zomato had also placed early bets on non-metro markets to widen and deepen its reach, a cash-burning exercise as it would not provide immediate results. However, given the global slowdown in 2023 due to macro headwinds, the foodtech unicorn focussed on improving its financial performance.

Zomato hit overall profitability in Q1 (April-June 2023) and Q2 (July-September 2023) of the current financial year and reintroduced its Gold loyalty programme in January, which has now surged to 38 Lakh members.

Although it is not strictly contextual (Swiggy is not a listed company), Zomato stock has given excellent returns in 2023 on a YTD (year-to-date) basis. After some dismal performances post its IPO, the stock has emerged as a multibagger and gained around 103% as of November 2023.

We have not considered the market loss it suffered on December 11, 2023, as the company was under pressure after SoftBank offloaded its remaining stake in Zomato.

Swiggy, too, grappled with persistent losses, high-profile exits and diminished investor confidence ahead of its impending IPO. 

The Bengaluru-based foodtech unicorn is yet to announce its FY23 earnings, but it reported a loss of INR 3,628.9 Cr in FY22 with an operating revenue of INR 6,119.8 Cr. It also restructured the business and adopted cost-cutting measures, resulting in the termination of 380 employees.

Key people, including Karthik Gurumurthy (Senior Vice President and Head of Swiggy Instamart), Dale Vaz (CTO), Anuj Rathi (SVP, Central Revenue and Growth ), Ashish Lingamneni (VP, Marketing) and Dineout cofounder Vivek Kapoor, were among its high-profile exits.

To add to its woes, the US-based investment firm Invesco marked down Swiggy’s valuation twice earlier this year, eventually slashing it to $5.5 Bn from an earlier $10.7 Bn. Swiggy reached the decacorn valuation when it raised $700 Mn from the US investor in 2022.   

Things took a turn for the better when Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety claimed that the foodtech unicorn’s food delivery business achieved profitability as of March 2023, excluding ESOP costs. Investors also displayed renewed confidence, with Invesco marking up Swiggy’s valuation by nearly 43% to $7.85 Bn and Baron Capital internally raising the valuation by 33.9% quarter-on-quarter to $8.54 Bn.

Creative, Relatable & Witty: How Zomato Campaigns Capture Foodies  

Innovation-driven marketing is a major growth driver in today’s business scenario, and Zomato has vroomed into that space. Take, for instance, the age-old SEO tools consistently driving traffic 24×7. According to traffic analyser Ubersuggest, Zomato ranks in India for 2,494,988 keywords as of August 2023, with monthly organic traffic amounting to 30,484,205, as mentioned in an IIDE (Indian Institute Of Digital Education) report. Although these figures are a tad lower than its SEO performance in February 2023, Zomato has outperformed Swiggy by 2.5 times.

However, the company has taken the cake in the social media domain.

Zomato and Swiggy are active on major social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). As of November 2023, Zomato has 891K followers on Instagram, 1.9 Mn on Facebook and 1.5 Mn on X. Swiggy is a notch down, with 457K followers on Instagram, 999K on Facebook and 209K on X.

Zomato’s ability to attract and engage people on every medium can be attributed to its use of trendy and witty posts. For instance, a recent collaborative campaign with Blinkit tweaked a famous Bollywood dialogue, leaving people in splits. While the Blinkit billboard turned the original dialogue on its head and said: Doodh mangoge, doodh denge (Ask for milk, and we will deliver it), Zomato took a page from it and made a humorous addition: Kheer mangoge, kheer denge (Ask for kheer, and we will deliver it). 

Then there are other campaigns – the story of Raksha and Bandhan, Zomato vs Zomato and Humans of Zomato – which are equally intriguing and never fail to captivate consumers. A recent case study by IIDE also highlighted the food delivery giant’s effective strategy of creating witty and relatable content to enhance engagement and appeal to its audience.

Moreover, when Zomato’s founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, joins the upcoming season of the popular TV show Shark Tank India, the event can set social media on fire. The company will not let go of this opportunity to impress netizens.

As global customer reach is its primary objective, Zomato utilises every available digital marketing tool to understand the preferences of its target audience and cater relevant content. According to the digital marketing agency Ideatick, the company sticks to a creative marketing strategy to stay at the forefront of the industry.

That does not mean Swiggy is lagging. The company has earned industry acclaim for its skilful storytelling, exemplified by its famous campaign What’s In A Name, where it ingeniously weaves relatable stories around restaurant names. Swiggy typically looks at people’s hunger quotient to craft a comprehensive marketing strategy, epitomised by its timeless tagline: Craving Something?

It also captivates its audience with visually compelling content and relevant Indian topics, ranging from cricket to political unrest. Again, pictures of delicious food are promoted on Instagram to position the company as the go-to choice for those desiring delectable meals.

Recognising the fast-growing significance of memes in the new millennium vernacular, Swiggy infuses its distinct flavours into them to enhance customer interaction on social platforms. A notable example is its viral Vadapav meme on Instagram (posted in September 2022), which got more than 1.2 Mn views and 5K comments, showcasing the effectiveness of this approach.

2024 Outlook: Competitive Sparring On The Menu

According to a Statista report, the number of users across the meal delivery market in India is estimated to reach 346.6 Mn by 2028. This anticipated surge in user numbers has transformed online food aggregation and delivery into a highly lucrative segment, attracting new players and investors. 

So, it is not surprising that startups like Waayu and Thrive, as well as the Indian government’s ambitious digital commerce network ONDC, are challenging the longstanding duopoly of Zomato and Swiggy.

Interestingly, WAAYU distinguishes itself as a no-commission food delivery platform, backed by Bollywood actor and investor Suniel Shetty and supported by the Mumbai-based Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR). The startup charges an introductory fee of INR 1K per month per outlet, which will be doubled a month after the onboarding. Restaurants also have to pay a one-time onboarding/setup fee of INR 3,650.

Another noteworthy contender is Thrive, a foodtech platform supported by Coca-Cola. It collaborates with restaurants for online and WhatsApp ordering, order management and setting up digital menus. Thrive claims to have a large restaurant base (exact number not disclosed) as it charges a 3% commission compared to 18-25% levied by Zomato and Swiggy.

The presence of ONDC makes the market more competitive as it has already onboarded more than 50K restaurants, signalling a tough time ahead for Zomato and Swiggy. 

As we approach 2024, the fate of these industry leaders remains uncertain. Only time will tell if they can operate in a stable market and grow sustainably, or it will continue to be a roller-coaster ride.

[Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post The 2023 Face-Off: How Zomato Powered Past Swiggy In The Food Delivery Race appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A landmark fine by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Google in late 2022 set into motion a series of events that echoed well into 2023. The domino effect led to a turbulence that hit Google’s ship, a force to reckon with and a digital juggernaut. 

Emulating its global operations, 2023 turned out to be a tumultuous year for the big tech major in India as well. The CCI penalty emboldened Indian startups to take the company to courts and even paved the way for the homegrown ecosystem to wrest control of a key industry body (IAMAI) from Google.

Piling on top of these issues were other anti-competitive cases brewing in the news aggregation and the smart television space. 

Besides, as a flurry of legislation, centred on the country’s digital ecosystem, took shape this year, Google found itself in the crosshairs of the government. Be it rap from authorities for failure to crack the whip on fake news or the emergence of deepfakes, the year turned out to be a trying time for the big tech giant.

Macroeconomic headwinds too hit the company as layoffs brought bad press for the big tech giant.

Notwithstanding these challenges, Google continued to focus on India, its biggest market globally in terms of users. 

From chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai’s bonhomie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to moving some of the production of Pixel smartphones to India, Google left no stone unturned to tout its India push. 

The year also saw Google bolster its fintech ambitions while rolling out new AI offerings for its Indian audiences. While 2023 indeed was, in some sense, a mixed bag for the company, unease prevailed among the company’s top leadership over regulatory strife and legal cases stuck in limbo.

Google Caught In The Great Indian Legal Limbo

As the competition watchdog issued a landmark antitrust judgement against Google in October 2022, little was known that it would stir up a big storm for the company. 

The CCI slapped two separate fines, totalling over INR 2,200 Cr, on Google for abusing dominance in the Android devices market and over its Play Store policies. It also directed the US-based major to undertake sweeping reforms to its operations in the country. 

Refusing to take the order lying down, the company appealed the decision before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). 

As cases dragged on, Google was forced to change course and instituted a slew of changes to India operations. It made some changes to its agreements with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and even announced a new user choice billing system (UCBS), which slashed developer commissions to 11-26%.

However, as Google began rolling out new policy changes to comply with the CCI rules, it met an unexpectedly tough adversary — Indian startups. 

First on the menu were public statements by Indian startup founders, trashing the new billing policy and equating it with British-era ‘Lagaan’. Some even termed Google a threat to the country’s startup ecosystem. 

What followed was Indian startups banding together to file cases against Google’s UCBS in Delhi High Court and Madras High Court. The homegrown players even approached the NCLAT and other stakeholders to pitch their case against the new policy.

As this saga played out, many founders were irked by the silence of industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on the matter. Consequently, the startups trained their guns on the industry body, which, as per many founders, was controlled by big tech executives. 

The aftermath saw Indian founders participate in huge numbers in the IAMAI’s elections and wrest its control from Google representatives – a small win for the Indian startup ecosystem.

In the middle of all this, it was the regulatory standoff that seemed to be the biggest trouble in Google India’s paradise.

Google’s Regulatory Pitfalls In India

A recurring theme of Google’s operations in India has been its behind-the-scenes, if not always public, skirmishes with the government. As the government undertook the overhaul of key digital laws in 2023, Google found itself in the middle of the action. 

While the amended IT Rules brought the safe harbour protections into question, the Telecommunication Bill hinted at the possibility of regulation of its OTT communication apps. The Digital Data Protection Act proposed an elaborate set of homework, hefty fines and additional compliance burden for the Sundar Pichai-led company.

The emerging threats such as deepfakes as well as misinformation, ahead of 2024 general elections, has also put the company in the crosshairs of the union government. 

In a bid to tide over this, the company has largely resorted to its time-tested strategy of engaging with authorities behind closed doors, partnering with the Centre on a slew of initiatives, and emboldening its Make in India push. 

Be it the production of Pixel smartphones in India or launching accelerator programmes for Indian startups, in partnership with MeitY, Google pitched itself as a force dedicated to the cause of the Indian digital economy. 

Meanwhile, the company continued to shore up its fintech ambitions, looking to capitalise on the burgeoning number of Indians joining the digital fold. 

The India Ambition Scales Up

Google continued to heavily scale up operations to capture a bigger pie of the Indian digital economy, which is projected to soar to a market size of $1 Tn by 2025. 

Diversifying from offering mere digital payments services, the big tech major forayed into the financial services segment. In partnership with Indian banks and startups, Google Pay, starting 2023, began to offer merchant credit lines and sachet loans for consumers.

With an eye on accelerating its fintech growth, Pichai also announced that the company would set up its global fintech operation centre at the GIFT City in Gujarat. 

Capitalising on GenAI, the flavour of the season, Google announced a spree of AI-focussed launches this year. Be it Bard or visual search, the tech giant rolled out a host of AI-led products and services for its Indian users even as competition intensified from Sam Altman-led OpenAI. 

Meanwhile, it continued to feel the heat of the global economic meltdown that unfolded in 2023. As a result, Google undertook a cost cutting exercise to streamline operations which resulted in axing of more than 450 jobs in India. 

The Mountain View-based company also shut down and announced the discontinuation of a slew of products and services, such as Google Podcasts, Google Stadia, and Google Jamboard, to focus on actual money-minting products. 

In India, YouTube also shut down its live social commerce app Simsim, just two years after the streaming giant splurged millions of dollars to acquire the Indian startup. 

What 2024 Holds For Google?

After a turbulent 2022 and 2023, Google has work cut out for itself in 2024. With general elections around the corner, Google could be in the spotlight as apprehensions grow over misinformation and negative use of generative AI.

While its legal troubles and standoffs with government authorities are expected to continue well into next year, the company could be hoping for some relief from Indian courts as it charts its path ahead in India.

The company will also continue to pump millions of dollars to roll out GenAI offerings, especially its GPT-4 rival Gemini. The suite of AI products will largely cater to consumer-facing products while it straddles potential regulations for the emerging technology. 

The world is also expected to return to sanity as macroeconomic pressures ease, paving the way for healthier revenues for the big tech giant. While the antitrust rulings are expected to continue, the company will continue to scale up its presence in India, focussing more on vernacular media and tapping into the growing Indian population that wants to access the internet in their own language.

The post 2023 In Review: A Year When Digital Goliath Google Met Its Adversaries In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

At the time when the real money gaming industry is reeling under the impact of the GST Council’s decision to hike the GST rate to 28%, gaming startup Gameskraft crossed the INR 1,000 Cr mark in consolidated net profit in the year ended March 31, 2023.

On the back of strong growth in its business, Gameskraft’s profit rose 14.2% to INR 1,061.9 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 930.4 Cr in FY22.

Founded in 2017 by Prithvi Raj Singh, Deepak Singh, Rajkumar Taneja, and Sindhu Devi Jha, GamesKraft operates real money gaming platforms such as RummyCulture, RummyPrime, Playship, Pocket52 and LudoCulture.

The startup primarily earns revenue from facilitation of gameplay in the form of commission or platform fees charged to the users as a fixed percentage of the amount they spend as entry fees.

Gameskraft’s revenue from operations jumped 24.8% to INR 2,662.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 2,133.1 Cr in FY22.

Including other income, total income rose xx% to INR 2,732.1 Cr from INR 2,153.2 Cr in FY22.

Where Did Gameskraft Spend?

Gameskraft’s total expenses soared 45.7% to INR 1,300.7 Cr in FY23 from INR 892.8 Cr in FY22.

Advertising and Marketing Expenses: The startup’s marketing expenses saw a sharp rise of 346% to INR 408.57 Cr in FY23 from INR 91.51 Cr in FY22, accounting for the biggest portion of the total expenditure. Its business promotion cost also rose 96% to INR 208.1 Cr in FY23 from INR 106.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

It must be noted that the costs incurred by the company towards free games and contribution towards player prize money in case of tournament are recorded as an expense and reported as part of advertisement, promotional and marketing expenses.

Employee Cost: Employee benefit expenses continued to account for a significant share of the startup’s total expenditure. Employee costs increased 57% to INR 374.9 Cr from INR 208 Cr in FY22.

While the startup posted a rise in its top and bottom lines, the numbers pertain to the period before the GST Council’s decision to hike GST for real money gaming. Following the GST Council’s decision, Gameskraft decided to discontinue its fantasy offering, Gamezy Fantasy.

GamesKraft is also among the gaming majors that received GST notices from the government. In September, the Supreme Court stayed Karnataka High Court’s judgment, which quashed a goods and services tax (GST) notice against Gameskraft for alleged tax evasion to the tune of INR 21,000 Cr.

The post Amid Tax Woes, Gameskraft’s FY23 Profit Jumps 14% To Cross INR 1,000 Cr Mark appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Sam Altman’s OpenAI is reportedly partnering with former Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly to understand and navigate the country’s policies and regulations on the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.

According to a TechCrunch report, Jaitly is working as a senior advisor with the ChatGPT developer to facilitate talks with the Indian government about AI policy.

Jaitly served as the head of the public-private partnership for Google in India between 2007 and 2009. In 2012, he transitioned to Twitter (now X), becoming the company’s inaugural employee in the country, as indicated on his LinkedIn profile.

While OpenAI currently lacks an official presence in India, recent developments include the approval of a trademark earlier this month. OpenAI’s cofounder and chief executive officer Altman visited New Delhi in June during a global tour and held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

During his visit to India in June, Altman expressed keen interest in investing in Indian startups. When asked by Inc42 at an event in Delhi about OpenAI’s venture capital arm considering investments in Indian startups, he said, “We had some discussions about investing in Indian startups and we would love to explore opportunities in that space.”

Additionally, there are indications that OpenAI is exploring the establishment of a local team in India, the TechCrunch report added.

In 2015, Sam Altman, along with Elon Musk and other collaborators, established OpenAI as a non-profit organisation. However, in 2019, they introduced a for-profit arm. The primary objective was to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

With the introduction of ChatGPT, a consumer-oriented chatbot app, OpenAI not only gained widespread recognition but also emerged as a leading force in AI. Reports suggest that Altman asserted OpenAI was achieving an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $1.3 Bn.

Lately, things have been a bit topsy-turvy for OpenAI’s top brass. First, Sam Altman and board president Greg Brockman got unexpectedly booted from the company. They briefly hopped over to Microsoft before making a comeback to OpenAI with a freshened-up board.

As per an Inc42 report, “India’s Generative AI Startup Landscape, 2023”, the GenAI market in India is poised to see a substantial increase from $1.1 Bn in 2023 to over $17 Bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 48%.

India currently boasts over 70 generative AI startups. These startups have collectively secured more than $440 Mn in funding between 2019 and the third quarter of 2023.

The post ChatGPT Developer OpenAI Working With Ex-Twitter Executive Rishi Jaitly To Enter India’s AI Space appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Tech giant Google has shortlisted 20 artificial intelligence (AI)-first startups in the seed to Series A stage for the eighth batch of its startup accelerator in India.

“These startups represent cutting-edge AI innovation in India, tackling diverse challenges, including discovering antibodies, detecting identity fraud, helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to reach more customers, reducing developers’ repetitive work and focusing on building solutions that use AI to address systemic challenges,” Google said in a blog post on Friday (December 8).

The company aims to foster an environment that nurtures innovative startups and fuels the rapidly evolving AI landscape of the Indian startup ecosystem, it added.

The accelerator offers a three-month equity-free programme where selected startups get mentorship and support across areas such as artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud, user experience, Android, web, product strategy and growth. It will also conduct workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition and leadership.

The current batch started this week with a week-long in-person boot camp, which includes training workshops and mentorship support around product, design, tech, growth and people.

What Are These 20 Startups Building?

Beatoven.ai

An AI-powered royalty-free background music creation platform for content creators

DhiWise

An AI-powered DevTool that enables developers to deliver production-ready source code for web and mobile apps 10x faster for all kinds of apps

Endimension

An end-to-end AI platform for radiology diagnosis

FilterPixel

An AI software that saves hours by automatically selecting the best photos from thousands of photos and then editing them automatically as per the style of the photographer

GalaxEye Space

A platform which is building next-generation imaging satellites using multiple sensors and generative AI for night/cloud-proof imaging

Gan.ai

A video personalisation platform that leverages generative AI to create personalised videos at scale from a single recording

Goodmeetings

A generative AI-driven video sales platform that helps salespeople sell 10X better on video

immunitoAI

A TechBio startup developing AI-generated novel antibody therapeutics with pre-defined drug properties

Kalam

A personalised mentorship and discipline-facilitating learning ecosystem tapping AI to address the challenges of affordability and accessibility to quality education in India.

Keploy

An open-source TestGPT toolkit for automating integration testing, converting network calls to test cases and data mocks for APIs and enabling production incident replays

Mugafi

Reshaping entertainment through Ved, an AI copilot that empowers storytellers to effortlessly create captivating novels or scripts, transcending traditional storytelling boundaries

NeuroPixel.AI

A deep tech startup working in the intersection of generative AI and computer vision, primarily focused on fashion ecommerce

Onward Assist

A platform which helps improve cancer outcomes by assisting the cancer biopsy reporting process through an AI-based solution that assists cancer pathologists with accurate scoring, tumor detection and workflow software.

Pepper Content

A content marketing platform that helps companies scale content marketing through expert talent and generative AI

Prescinto

An AI-powered SaaS platform that regularly collects renewable energy plant (solar, wind, storage) data, applies ML/AI models to this data to identify causes for underperformance and suggests work orders to increase electricity generation from these renewable plants

Presentations.AI

An AI-powered platform that lets everyone effortlessly create stunning presentations fast

SpoofSense.ai

A startup which helps businesses detect identity fraud using computer vision

Wright Research

A startup which aims to redefine investment in India with AI-driven, personalized quantitative strategies, delivering exceptional performance and risk management through a user-friendly, transparent digital platform

Zocket

An AI-powered SaaS platform for SMBs to grow their business with high-performing digital ads

ZuAI

An AI self-study buddy for students

The post Google Picks 20 AI-First Startups For Its India Accelerator Programme appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Japanese tech investor SoftBank on Friday (December 8) offloaded 9.35 Cr shares of foodtech giant Zomato in an INR 1,127 Cr block deal. 

SVF Growth (Singapore) dumped 1.06% stake in the company at INR 120.5 apiece, as per NSE data. 

The shares that flooded the market were lapped up by Invesco, ICICI Prudential Insurance, Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Kadensa Capital, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, among others. 

SVF Growth (Singapore) held a 2.17% stake in Zomato at the end of September 2023, owning 18.71 Cr shares. However, the investor sold 1.09% stake in the company in October for a sum of INR 1,040.5 Cr. 

With the latest share sale, the investor has most likely completely exited Zomato.

The Japanese investor has been on a selling spree, looking to book profits as the Indian equity markets and new-age tech stocks continue to rise. Prior to this, SVF Growth offloaded 1.15% stake in Zomato for INR 947 Cr in August 2023.

This is in line with the larger trend in the market where international investors have been selling their stakes in homegrown new-age tech companies. Earlier this month, Chinese tech major Alipay exited Zomato by selling its entire 3.44% stake via multiple block deals for INR 3,336.7 Cr. 

In August, VC firm Tiger Global also sold 12.24 Cr shares of Zomato for INR 1,123 Cr.

This stake sale spree comes as Zomato reported its second consecutive profitable quarter in the second quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The foodtech major’s profit after tax soared to INR 36 Cr during the September quarter of FY24, up 18X from PAT of INR 2 Cr in the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, Zomato has been grappling with its own set of challenges. The company, along with competitor Swiggy, reportedly received notices for a cumulative goods and services tax (GST) bill of INR 1,000 Cr, incurred on account of the 18% tax levied on the total amount collected by them as delivery fees since commencing operations. 

Shares of Zomato ended today’s trading 1.27% lower at INR 120.15 on the NSE.

The post SoftBank Offloads 1.06% Stake In Zomato For INR 1,127 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shares of foodtech giant Zomato nudged higher during the early trading session on Friday (December 8), on the back of a large block deal.

Around 1.06% stake of the company or 9.35 Cr shares exchanged hands on the block deal. The shares exchanged hands at an average price of INR 120.5 apiece, taking the total transaction value to INR 1,127 Cr.

However, the buyers and sellers in the transactions are not known.

During the early session of the day, Zomato shares were trading at INR 123.6 apiece on the BSE, 1.3% up from its previous close.

On Thursday (December 7), Inc42 reported, citing multiple media reports, that Japanese tech investor SoftBank’s SVF Growth is looking to offload another 1.1% stake in Zomato in a block deal worth $135 Mn.

As per the reports, SVF Growth is expected to sell the shares at INR 120.5 apiece, which is a slight discount to Zomato’s close at INR 121.8 on the BSE on Thursday .

At the end of September 2023 quarter, SVF Growth (Singapore) Pte Ltd held a 2.17% stake in Zomato with 18.71 Cr shares. Following that, in October the Japanese investor sold a 1.1% stake, or 9.36 Cr shares, in the foodtech major.

In August this year, SVF Growth offloaded its 1.15% stake, or 10 Cr shares, in Zomato, bringing down its holding in the company to 2.17%.

Last week, another international investor Alipay exited Zomato by selling its entire 3.44% stake in the company via multiple block deals worth a cumulative INR 3,336.7 Cr. However, the shares were lapped up by investors like Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investment. 

Investment firm Tiger Global also exited Zomato in August by selling 12.24 Cr shares worth INR 1,123 Cr, amounting to 1.44% stake.

Zomato reported its second consecutive profitable quarter, with profit after tax surging to INR 36 Cr during the September quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). This was an 18X jump from PAT of INR 2 Cr in the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, Zomato and Swiggy, the duo, reportedly received notices for a cumulative goods and services tax (GST) worth around INR 1,000 Cr, which is the 18% tax levied on the total amount collected by them as delivery fees ever since they started offering food delivery services.

The post Zomato Sees INR 1,127 Cr Block Deal, SoftBank Likely Seller appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Japanese tech investor SoftBank’s SVF Growth is reportedly looking to offload another 1.1% stake in Zomato in a block deal worth $135 Mn.

As per multiple media reports, SVF Growth is expected to sell the shares at INR 120.5 apiece, which is a slight discount to Zomato’s close at INR 121.8 on the BSE on Thursday (December 7).

At the end of September 2023 quarter, SVF Growth (Singapore) Pte Ltd held a 2.17% stake in Zomato with 18.71 Cr shares. In October, the Japanese investor sold a 1.1% stake, or 9.36 Cr shares, in the foodtech major.

If the stake sale takes place, it would mark a complete exit of SoftBank from Zomato.

It is pertinent to note that SoftBank has been lowering its stake in the listed new-age Indian entities for the last few months. In August this year, SVF Growth offloaded its 1.15% stake, or 10 Cr shares, in Zomato, bringing down its holding in the company to 2.17%.

On the other hand, SoftBank’s SVF Doorbell (Cayman) offloaded 2.5% of its stake in logistics unicorn Delhivery last month for almost INR 740 Cr. The Japanese firm has also been trying to exit other listed Indian startups from its portfolio, including Paytm and PB Fintech.

Meanwhile, a few other international investment firms, including China’s Alipay and Alibaba, have also been trying to exit the listed companies from their India portfolio.

Alipay exited Zomato last week by selling its entire 3.44% stake in the company via multiple block deals worth a cumulative INR 3,336.7 Cr. However, the shares were lapped up by investors like Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investment. 

In November, Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway also exited Paytm by offloading its entire 2.46% stake in the company for about INR 1,370.6 Cr.

The post SoftBank Likely To Exit Zomato With 1.1% Stake Sale appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a major win for app developers and startups in India, tech giant Google has withdrawn its appeal against a Delhi High Court order asking the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to hear the petitions moved by Indian startups against Google’s user choice billing system.

Google’s counsel senior advocate Sajan Poovayya told the Delhi HC that the order was passed by a single judge when the CCI did not have the quorum to hear the plea, Moneycontrol reported. However, the CCI now has the quorum and has been hearing the plea by startups, he said.

Poovayya further told the court that while Google wishes to withdraw the appeal, it wishes to keep the questions of law open.

On the other hand, the CCI’s counsel Akanksha Kaul told the court that the regulator has no objections to the withdrawal. 

The matter goes back to April this year, when a group of Indian startups moved the Delhi HC asking the competition watchdog to hear their appeals against Google’s user choice billing system. The HC then asked the CCI to hear the applications.

In May 2023, the CCI said it needed to inquire into Google’s new billing policy and check whether the company complied with its October 2022 order asking the tech major not to restrict app developers from using third-party billing systems.

The bone of contention is the commission charged by Google on all in-app purchases for the apps listed on its app store, the Google Play Store. Indian startups have been vocally opposing the tech giant’s policies, calling them a modern-day lagaan.

Google came out with the new user choice billing system after the CCI slapped a fine of INR 936 Cr on it last year for abusing its dominant position in the app store market.

The post Big Win For Startups As Google Withdraws Plea Against CCI Probe Into Billing System appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Real money gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL) saw its consolidated net loss plunge 81% to $37.04 Mn in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from $194.47 Mn in the previous fiscal year.

M-League Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based parent entity of MPL, saw its revenue from operations soar 63% to $104.6 Mn during the year under review from $64.1 Mn in FY22, as per its filings. 

The unicorn said that revenue from international operations accounted for 38% of its operating revenue in FY23, up from 11% in FY22.

Founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas Kiran G and Shubh Malhotra, MPL offers games ranging from skill-based fantasy sports to chess and other casual games. While India is the primary market for MPL, it also forayed into the US market in 2021. In the next year, it acquired GameDuell, one of the biggest gaming companies in Europe known for its community card and board games. 

In 2023, MPL entered Africa by partnering with Carry1st, a leading gaming company in the continent. 

Meanwhile, MPL’S other expenses declined over 67% to $95.67 Mn in FY23 from $149.06 Mn in the previous fiscal year, while employee compensation rose over 22% to $71.51 Mn from $58.29 Mn in FY22.

The improvement in MPL’s top and bottom lines come at a time when the online gaming sector in India is reeling under the impact of the GST Council’s decision to levy 28% tax on full face value of bets placed on these platforms.

MPL became the first Indian gaming startup to fire employees this year following the GST Council’s decision to increase the tax rate for the sector. In August, the unicorn laid off 350 employees, saying the increase in GST levy increased the tax burden on it by as much as 350-400%. 

Meanwhile, the Indian entity of MPL saw its FY23 loss fall over 80% to INR 87.2 Cr from INR 449.4 Cr in the previous financial year. Operating revenue rose 36% to INR 814 Cr in FY23 from INR 601 Cr. 

MPL competes against platforms such as Dream11, Fantasy Akhada, and WinZO Games. The Bengaluru-based startup entered the unicorn club in September 2021 after raising $150 Mn from Legatum Capital, Accrete Capital and Gaingels LLC at a pre-money valuation of $2.3 Bn.

Overall, MPL has raised a funding of over $350 Mn till date and counts SIG Global, Pegasus Tech Ventures, and RTP Global among its backers.

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