This'll make you drool 🤤

Toys get the money, Swiggy marries Dineout & Brands that caught our eyes

May 16

Hello👋 !

Twas the end of an era last week. Apple pulled the plug on the iPod — one of the most iconic and beloved consumer products in history, after 21 years. We’ll save our tears for another day though, for now, we’ve got lots to tell so let’s jump straight ahead 👇

What’s sizzling hot? 🔥

😌 Online shopping made easy-peasy

Shopflo, a SaaS platform making checkout system efficient and smooth for D2C brands, closed a USD 2.6 mn seed round from Tiger Global, TQ Ventures, and a bunch of other angel investors.

Despite offering sexy products, several D2C brands struggle to convert customers on their websites — thanks to multiple page redirects and payment failures at the checkout point. Shopflo is solving this by offering an easy-to-integrate system that provides lightning-fast checkouts and an option for customers with abandoned carts to buy on Whatsapp.

Fun Fact: With the funding, Shoplo has become the only Indian startup to receive Tiger’s love in a pre-seed stage round.

🧒Tell Mama, the dough is where the child is

SkillMatics, a startup making educational toys for children, scooped up USD 16 mn in a Series B round from Sofina, Sequoia Capital, and others.

SkillMatics is basically gamifying learning for kids aged between 3-6 years by selling interactive products like puzzles, board games, building blocks and books. Products are sold via an omni-channel route across 15 countries, with over 5 mn goods sold.

Fresh money raised in the round will go towards developing the product stack and strengthening the local and US business.

Worth Mentioning: The Global toys market is a USD 100 bn+ opportunity, expected to reach USD 230 bn by 2028. Don’t sleep on this one!

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❤️Shark’s Favourite

Organic Farming startup, Humpy Farms raised INR 5 cr. in an angel funding round, which includes USD 1 cr. from Shark Tank judges Peyush Bansal, Ghazal Alagh and a few other investors.

Humpy Farms is based in Pune and sells freshly produced dairy and non-dairy essentials — like Milk, Ghee, Rice, Honey (hence the name). The startup’s flagship product is an A2 Milk, which it currently sells only in Pune. New Capital raised in the round will be used for scaling business across the country.

D2C Bites 🍪

Swiggy acquired restaurant tech platform, Dineout from Times Internet, in a USD 120 mn all-stock deal.
Mota bhai won’t stop — Reliance is planning to acquire 50-60 consumer brands for USD 6.5 billion, in a bid to create a consumer goods empire
Delhivery IPO was oversubscribed to the extent of 163%, in its bid to raise INR 5235 cr. from the public.

Brands that caught our eyes 👀

🍄Shrooms are good

Mushroom Mistri is getting you high on health with a blend of everyday foods like instant soup mix, mocha coffee, Hibiscus tea, etc. Mistri uses Cordyceps Militaris, a type of mushroom containing bioactive components that support liver and kidney functions. It also acts as an adaptogen i.e. help our body respond to stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Learn more about these magic shrooms here.

🍇 Eat it the way you want

“About 60% of fruits don’t reach our table due to wastage…the ones that do reach are mostly plucked before maturity and riped in an artificial environment“ According to Fruz Store.

To tackle this supply chain problem and increase the shelf life of your food, Fruz Store works with farmers and selling partners to make fruits and veggies available in Cube, Powder, Water, and Chocolate, forms. How, you ask? by using freeze-drying technology & recipe innovations.

These can then be used for a longer time to make ice cream, noodles, yogurts, smoothies, etc. Slurrrpppp!

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Trend of the Week: Ice Creams🍦

COVID nearly killed Ice Cream consumption. Though, thanks to the scorching heat, Ice Cream sales are booming once again. Sales are 50% up from the 2020 levels, while to capitalize on the growing consumption, Ice Cream brands are spending 15-20% more on advertising this year. Here are few home-grown D2C brands that’ll make you drool: