👋 Hey Goodmorning!

GlobalBees D2C Pulse is back with exciting new content on the direct-to-consumer ecosystem in India.

We are sorry we are landing up in your inbox a day later than usual! Umm… Maybe Tuesday is the new Monday; We are just going to Mc Adams you on this one. If you are clueless about the reference, watch this video now! and then these memes!

What’s in the news? 🗞️

Paw yeah!🐶

10-year-old pet care start-up Just Dogs raised USD 7 mn from Sixth Sense Ventures. Ahmedabad-based Just Dogs not only provides dog food, supplements and accessories through its platform but also products like pet insurance, pet magazines, training, and grooming services. Boop! India is the fastest-growing pet care market in the world with prominent players like HUFT, Dogsee Chew, Supertails, Wiggles, etc.

Incubatin’ & Hatchin’ 🐣

Investors and media are keeping D2C sector hot by doing their bit to promote and accelerate the champs and the challengers:

1. After a 3-month application cycle, Inc42 selected 42 D2C as champs from almost 1,000 nominations under high-growth & emerging categories. It covered brands like Sanfe, Arata, Prolixr and Kapiva.

2. Accel, a US-based VC has set up a 100-day mentorship program (and a USD 650 mn fund) for 14 selected startups from SaaS and crypto to D2C industry.

3. Lights Out Studio, known for its product design and UI/UX expertise is investing in pre-seed D2C companies. So far they have invested in health brands Super Human Wellness and Eat Better.

D2C Quickies ⏰

1. Nawab’s daughter and Bollywood sweetheart invested in The Souled Store. Bollywood stars starting to invest in small brands! D2C is gaining momentum!

2. Men’s clothing D2C brand DaMENSCH has raised USD 16.4 mn in its funding round led by A91 Partners.

PS: Before we wrap up the news section: DYK YouTube’s creators contributed Rs 6800 Cr to the Indian economy? To squeeze the creative economy juice, vernacular audio-content app PocketFM closed a massive USD 65 mn funding round, to build a Spotify + Audible combined for its monthly 50 mn+ users.

Brands that caught our eye! 🧿

Cop it now: Coppr is bringing back copper kitchenware and decor from the past by giving it a contemporary touch.

Steal a heal: Channelize your cosmic energies with a balanced mind and spirit with WLTH’s Focus Now, Energy Now, Mood Lift, Calm Ease adaptogenic herbs!

Trend of the week: Chai time🍵🧘‍♀️

D2C brands are giving a modern and unusual tweak to the desi chai, keeping the narrative around wellness, calmness and rejuvenation. There are outcome and health-issue-specific ingredient teas available now! Some can be used as cocktail mixers too! This market is alone set to grow to INR 1132 bn by FY 2027. Let’s take a look at a few mavericks in the industry:

Reads & Recommendations 🤓

1. 3rd revolution of commerce is coming - headless commerce:

The Indian Dream

💆🏽‍♂️ Headless Commerce - The Future of E-commerce 💆🏽‍♂️

Each week we share business ideas and opportunities that you can use to build your next big business. You’ll also find tweets, articles and a lot more to keep you updated on the latest business trends. This week you will find: 💆🏽‍♂️ Headless Commerce - The Future of E-commerce 💆🏽‍♂️…

Read more

6 days ago · 1 like · The Indian Dream

2. Use your travel time better. Tune in to Moonshot, a business podcast by Sequoia.

That’s all for today!

If you missed our previous editions, check them out here. If you like what we are creating at D2C Pulse, show us some love, click on ❤️ below!

Bye to all our McAdams (I mean McSubscribers…no.. subscribers)!