Matinee & Fiesta!🍊
Clean beauty & home space, waffles, beverages and last mile deliveries.
👋 Hey!
Welcome to this week’s edition of GlobalBees D2C Pulse where we curate content around the direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecosystem in India - start-ups, funding, acquisitions, partnerships, and more. If you missed our previous editions, check them out here!
Last week we introduced a new series of D2C Pulse where we uncover D2C brands and marketplaces across the globe. Check it out here. D2C space is going berserk. This👇 is us trying to keep a track of all the updates for you!
What’s in the news?
🌻 Soulflower is blooming
Soulflower, a pioneer in clean beauty and home care since 2001, has raised funding from Wipro Consumer Care-Ventures. The brand has an interesting proposition: “Farm to Face” - it brings products made from plants, fruits, flowers and spices harvested at its very own plantation, straight to the consumer. Soulflower stays true to its vision with initiatives like recycling & reward programs, feeding strays on every purchase, a 100% money-back guarantee, etc. The brand was also amongst the top 10 brands selected for Amazon’s Global Selling Propel Accelerator in 2021.
Soulflower also assists brands with their olfactory branding i.e. developing their signature aroma to increase purchase intent and create a brand recall. Its clients include Holiday Inn, Naturals ice cream, and Mercedes. C’mmon, I can’t be the only one who frequently lurks around a Forest Essentials store, just for the smell.
🧇 No more waffling around
Venture Catalysts and 9Unicorns have announced investment in Waffle House, one of the first brands to Introduce waffles in India in 2014. Since then, Waffle House has come a long way from offline QSR (25+ outlets) to online D2C, with over 150+ SKUs. Waffle House offers all things waffles: cookies, chips, tarts, breakfast mix, snacks, chocolates, and more! Waffle House is in the process of re-branding itself to showcase its wide range of products, beyond waffles.
Wanna make your breakfast even more fun, add pancakes from Slurrp Farm and nuts & berry trail mix from Happilo.
🥾Re-cycle with Neeman’s shoes
After raising USD 2.7 mn from Sixth Sense Ventures in August this year, footwear brand Neeman’s has received an INR 7 cr. debt funding from Stride Ventures. Why are investors showering love on Neeman’s? Well, Neeman’s has carved a niche for itself by offering athleisure footwear, made out of Merino Wool (sourced from Merino sheep in Australia), discarded plastic bottles, bamboo, and recycled rubber, straight from its manufacturing unit in Hyderabad.
The Indian footwear market, poised to reach USD 15.5 Bn by 2022, is currently dominated by big players that fail to please minimalist users preferring an all-purpose footwear. Neeman’s competes with the likes of Paaduks, Nothing New & Happy Sole.
🍃Forest Fiesta with Flistaa
According to Goldstein Market Intelligence, India’s packaged non-alcoholic beverages market is expected to reach USD 20.4 bn by 2030. Last week, we noted fundings in a few beverage brands. If you have been following our previous editions, you know where our bias lies:
Jade Forest, a new-age beverage brand offering craft drinks using selected botanicals, herbs, and spices, raised USD 1 mn in a funding round led by Mumbai Angels Network.
Instant Beverage Startup Flistaa, offering most loved Indian beverages like street juices, milkshakes, sharbat, in form of instant premixes raised funds from ah! Ventures.
🍿Other bites
Global comes Local: Looking at the success of Bath & Bodyworks in India, Victoria’s Secret goes D2C in India.
Last-mile grocery delivery: Swiggy is investing USD 700 mn in its quick delivery service called Instamart after competitors Zepto and Zomato doubled down on theirs. Meanwhile, Jiomart is allowing users to order groceries using Whatsapp, via a new “tap and chat" option.
Cloud kitchens: Faasos parent Rebel Foods topped up its funding in the company with USD 14.5 mn investment. EatClub Brands, formerly known as BOX8, raised USD 40 mn from Tiger Global.
BNPL: Simpl, a cardless payment network with Buy Now Pay Later feature, raised USD 40 mn in a funding round led by Valar Ventures & IA Ventures.
Brands that caught our eye!
🍿It’s showtime
Having spent years doing distilling experiments with over 40 ingredients, college buddies Anjali Shahi and Lavanya Jayashankar have launched Matinee Gin in Goa. What makes Matinee Gin different from already existing craft gin brands in India, you ask? It’s the botanicals they are using. Instead of the regular Indian spices used in gin like fennel, cloves, Matinee is experimenting with lesser-known ones like snake saffron, white turmeric, kagzi lime, and Goan peppercorn.
Also, the story behind the brand name goes like “Matinee conjures up all sorts of ‘first-day-first-show' memories that extend to the idea of day drinking, a concept synonymous with gin.
Here you go! We just gave you one more reason to spend your new year’s in Goa.
🍷Be Better at drinking
After making you salivate for gin & tonic on a Monday morning, the next product to feature was a no-brainer: the ultimate drinking game - Dring!
The brand story goes like… two buddies who shared immense love for drinks came together to design fun card games for when people are wasted. Scare of still prevalent coronavirus definitely jeopardizes our nightclub plans every now and then; So, the duo came up with something that could be played at the ease of your couches and transform the night into anything but ordinary. The games include Majority-Minority, Savage Hamper, Party Starter Hamper. I have no idea what this means....only one way to find out 😏 .
PS: Courtesy of today’s finds goes to Stumble, a one-stop platform for consumers to discover, learn, and share their honest reviews of new brands. Do check them out!
Trend of the week: Home Gardening
Modern gardening brands providing one-stop shop to house garden seeds and bulbs are gaining prominence in the D2C world. Gardening for millennials is more inclusive, loose, and funky than the more traditional offerings. The global lawn and garden consumables market is projected to reach USD 26.3 bn by 2030 and here’re a few of our favorite players:
Reads & Recommendations
That’s all for this week!
Stay tuned for more insights about the D2C start-ups in India. Do share your feedback and have a bangin’ week.
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