Marketplaces, MyGlamm, Meesho & Mo'🍪

All things noteworthy in the D2C space

Oct 04, 2021

👋 Hey!

Welcome to this week’s edition of GlobalBees D2C Pulse! Thanks for letting us into your inbox, we’re happy (and overwhelmed) to have hit 3000+ subscribers. Hit reply and type away if you have any thoughts about the stuff you read here, and let’s turn it into a conversation!

If you missed our previous editions, check them out here!

What’s in the news?

💅🏻 Sneek peek into MyGlamm’s D2C playbook

4-year-old D2C cosmetics startup MyGlamm recently picked up an INR 255 cr. funding from Trifecta Capital, taking its total Series C proceeds to a whopping INR 785 cr. Here’s why MyGlamm is lettin’ the green bills comin’: it wants to build an INR 70,000 cr. umbrella of online brands called ‘the Good Glamm Group’ focused on women from tween to teen! Its strategy so far has been:

Acquisition of online platforms in content creation and influencer spheres, like BabyChakra (parenting), POPxo and Plixxo (personal care and entertainment blogs) to take its community count to 60 mn!
Launching beauty brands catering to different income segments for capturing the maximum market share: LIT (affordable) and Manish Malhotra (luxurious).
Earmarking INR 750 cr. to acquire 5-6 more online beauty and personal care brands in the next 6 months.
The icing on the cake is a sprawling retail network of nearly 30,000 offline points of sales.

Though MyGlamm has stiff competition from the growing D2C brands like Nykaa, SUGAR Cosmetics, and investor-favourite roll-up aggregators, for now, it seems to have aced the 3Cs (Content + Community + Commerce) of the D2C world. At this speed, an IPO ain’t far away!

🤑 E-comm marketplaces are in the midst of a funding frenzy

Plenty of good news for the world’s second-largest internet market, where e-commerce is yet to make a significant dent in the overall retail market:

Meesho, the de facto leader in the social commerce marketplace for unbranded products secured USD 570 mn funding, led by Fidelity and B Capital, and has doubled its valuation to USD 4.9 bn.
Meanwhile, Flipkart got FOMO and launched its own social commerce offering called Shopsy that plans to onboard 25 mn resellers by 2023.

Meesho funding’s significant chunk will also go to its grocery marketplace Farmiso launched earlier this year. The idea is to leverage the community leader model to serve customers in Tier 2-3 cities with very low ticket sizes while having a very strong unit economics base.
OfBusiness, a B2B raw material and finance provider, raised USD 207 mn (at USD 3 bn valuations) in fresh funding led by Tiger Global. OfBusiness competes with the likes of Moglix, Infra.Market, Zetwerk, most of which have already achieved the unicorn status in 2021.
Another such start-up Bijnis recently raised USD 30 mn in a Series B financing round led by Westbridge Capital.
Tata is launching its e-commerce super app called ‘TataNeu’ that will offer hotel bookings, electronics, grocery among others. Apart from Tata, giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Adani Group, and Paytm are also gearing to compete in the super app race.
Grofers' Saurabh Kumar launched an e-commerce firm Warpli, a full-fledged online marketplace that will compete with incumbents such as Amazon and Flipkart.
The Cocktail Story launches India’s first D2C e-commerce platform dedicated to beverages & spirits for bartenders & drink enthusiasts who can order from the website and curate their cocktail-making experiences at home. (ok, this one’s our favourite)

Phew 😅 We missed something?? Hit reply and send an angry message!

🍿 Tech Bites

Buy-now-pay-later is gaining popularity with D2C sites across the country. ZestMoney, Goldman Sachs-backed BNPL platform just raised USD 50 mn in its ongoing Series C round.
Starting last Friday, a new set of auto-debit rules brought by the RBI have kicked in. These rules basically provide that all recurring auto-debit payments - from subscriptions to other mundane transactions will need explicit consumer permission; And for payments above INR 5000, a 2-factor authentication via OTP will be required. Read more about how these rules will affect the digital economy here. We have mixed feelings about this one.

Brands that caught our eye!

🦜Totapari’s tangy yet sweet collection

The diamond & fine jewellery industry is getting jaded as it has been doing things in the exact same way for centuries. Breaking the monotony is the jewellery brand Totapari. Using parrots, paisleys, peacocks, temples, Gods and lotus motifs, Totapari aims to bring out the heritage and naughtiness of Indian diversity in its jewellery, while not forgetting the taste of a modern woman. Ecomm brands like Totapari have hacked the jewellery industry through their lower prices and better quality, by letting consumers shop straight from the source.

Share GlobalBees D2C Pulse

🍪 Petite size, bold style with Mo’s bakery

Got no self-control when it comes to sugar treats? Try Mo’s bakery! It designs bite-sized, petite gourmet cookies with unique flavours & natural ingredients. The tiny cookies with a well-rounded taste will fill up your tummy without having to go on an eating rampage. The brand offers unconventional flavours like beet & dark chocolate, lactation cookies for people with hormonal imbalances, rosemary cookies, and mo’!

💄Stepping away from DIY beauty with Dr. Sheth’s

Our moms swear by DIY beauty remedies based on age-old ayurvedic principles to date. The Millennial Indian, however, thinks differently. She knows that homemade concoctions are not always the answer to skin concerns and is willing to invest in skincare brands that tick the right boxes.

With this thesis in mind, Dr. Sheth’s offers results-driven and ingredient-focused products with modern formulas. The brand offers clean products designed specifically for Indian skin, for concerns including acne, pigmentation, dryness etc., backed by proprietory formulation and three generations of experience.

Trend of the week: Pawsome petcare industry 🐩

In 2019, Indians owned 20 mn pet dogs, which is expected to rise to 31 mn by 2023. India’s pet care market is valued at USD 600 mn currently and is growing at 20% CAGR! It is primarily divided into pet food, pet pharma & grooming, and pet toys.

The way to enter this industry would be by tapping niches like pet daycare, social media/community for dogs, lifestyle products, and animal nutrition.

Here’s our list of brands active in the pet care space (as you can tell, we are horribly biased towards doggos!) PS: we run a pet-friendly office at GlobalBees.

Reads & Recommendations

Before you think of starting a business, do spare some time out for The Mom’s Test by Rob Fitzpatrick.
Podcast on circular economy in India by Sreepriya Sridharan - do check the episodes on re-designing the e-comm packaging and wasting less food with dynamic pricing.