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D2C Pulse is a newsletter written by the team at GlobalBees, curating happenings in the direct-to-consumer ecosystem of India.

Not a bad week for D2C funding. However, there may be dark clouds 🌩️🌩️ahead on another front. With cookie deprecation on the horizon, 64% of Indian leaders still spend at least half of their marketing budgets on cookie-based activations – and 86% plan to increase spending on cookie-dependent activations this year. Adobe’s new research that shows brands aren’t taking the necessary steps to evolve their data strategies, despite serious near and long-term impacts on their businesses.

Many Indian leaders expect the end of third-party cookies will hurt their businesses, in some cases profoundly: 40% said it would “devastate” their businesses, 22% anticipate significant harm, and 24% predict a moderate negative impact.

🗞️Marketplace Updates

• 📢Swiggy rebrands morning grocery delivery service SuprDaily to InsanelyGood. The company will offer more than 3,000 locally sourced and organic food items. The rebranded service will offer next-day delivery for a fee and do away with SuprDaily's subscription model.
  The food delivery major had rolled back operations of the subscription-based SuprDaily service in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Pune in May as it struggled to contain losses and expressed an intention to work towards "a clear path to profitability."

• 🤦It just doesn’t get over. Now, the regulator may shut online pharmacies over data misuse. The move comes close on the heels of drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) sending show-cause notices to 20-odd e-pharmacies, including Tata 1mg, Amazon, Flipkart, NetMeds, MediBuddy and Practo. A group of Union ministers also backed action restricting online pharmacies.

• 🤝India Post partners with Shiprocket and Pickrr to deliver last mile e-commerce products. The partnership between India Post, which is India’s government operated postal service, and Shiprocket will provide shipping and last-mile delivery services to Shiprocket's three lakh strong seller base which includes startups and a large number of small and medium businesses.

🍕D2C Bites

• Summer Goggles: Lenskart has raised an eye-watering $500 million from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The investment, an extension to last year’s round, helps the startup retain its $4.5 billion valuation. Lenskart has raised $1.5 billion to date in primary and secondary raises. Lenskart, which posted a revenue of over $180 million in the financial year ending March 2022, is currently on a monthly run rate of about $50 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

• Gurgaon-based Influencer marketing platform One Impression raised $10 million in Series A funding. Founded by brothers duo Apaksh Gupta and Jivesh Gupta in 2018, One Impression offers brands access to relevant creators from over seven million creators across the world, ranging from top celebrities to nano influencers, to drive growth with influencer-led initiatives. The platform also helps brands with creator pricing, campaign delivery and real-time tracking of campaign performance.

• Healthcare gets a leg up: Gynoveda raised $10 mn in Series A funding. The start-up aims to democratise ayurveda-enabled, curative self-care solutions for gynaecological and lifestyle-related disorders women face from puberty to menopause.

  The startup claims to have improved the health of 3 lakh women living in 20,000 Indian pin codes. This led to the company tripling its revenue year-on-year between FY20 and FY23 to reach ₹100 crore annual revenue run rate within three years of its inception.

• Popsicle Season: Our office favourite, Ice Cream Brand NOTO Raises $2 Million in funding. The company is now on track to become profitable by FY24 and aims at strengthening its distribution via digital channels and making a bigger impact all over India. Currently, the company has an ARR of 35 crore and is targeting an ARR of 50 crore by the end of the summer.

• Funding Bags: Lifestyle brand Zouk raises USD 3 mn in series A. Zouk operates in the bags, wallets and footwear categories and it plans to invest the funds to promote its brand, expand its collections, hire more people, strengthen its supply chain, and open offline stores.

• The Ayurveda Co raised Rs 100 crore in Series A funding. The company aims to use the funds to expand its offline presence, improve product manufacturing, and expand research and development. The company has grown 300+% over the past 10 months, driven by a portfolio of 100 unique SKUs with a robust omni-channel distributor network across over 20 EBOs, over 5,000 retail touchpoints, and online channels.
  

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📢Leader Speak

Get the latest on what D2C Founders and Leaders had to say this week!

Reads and Recommendations 📚

• Now get stuff from Billions and Top Gun Online. Paramount Starts D2C Ecommerce Platform For Entertainment Brands

• Amazon and Shopify: Frenemies?

• How to Structure a Marketing Dream Team for Any Size Company

• Great blog by the Reforge team on The Secret to Building a Customer-Centric Culture

• How Apple made unpacking the iPhone a ritual rather than a chore

🪴Artificial Plants Are a Rage!

Australian brand Anko has launched a range of options. From Artificial Succulent Plants to Artificial Eucalyptus Plants and Monsteras. If you’re looking to spice up a nook or a table this is it. (yeah, the pots in the pics are included).

That’s all for this week! Bye!

Stay tuned for more.

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