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Welcome to 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!

We hope you had a merry Christmas 🎅🏽 & are all set for the new year’s weekend. Let’s jump right in and then leave you to kick off your Monday morning 🥂.

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What’s in the news?

🦷 The floss-ophy of Perfora

Barely a year old oral care brand Perfora raised INR 2 cr. from Sauce.vc, and Vahdam Tea and Boat founders. The Company offers personalised electric toothbrushes (with clean & massage modes), probiotic mouthwash, smart flosser etc. to make your teeth squeaky clean. Sized about INR 4000 cr., there is a lot of depth in the Indian oral care products market.

Perfora has been working to introduce a holistic portfolio of oral care products, including morning and night toothpaste and alcohol-free mouthwash. The brand focuses on communication as much as its products, with its weekly newsletters that talk about the internal working of their company and what its brand stand for.

💪 3G success tower built on women power

Content-to-commerce unicorn The Good Glamm Group has been on an acquisition spree, so far focusing on products and content around skincare & cosmetics like St.Botanica and Oriental Botanics; It has now forayed into female hygiene through the investment of a whopping INR 100 cr. from in Sirona. Feminine Hygiene is a massive market and is growing in taboo areas including cleaning period stains, standing pee devices, menstrual cups, tampon disposal etc. Sirona is interestingly bundling these products under its brand, to make life simpler for Indian women.

Sirona is also building a community through a platform called ‘sisterhood’ (hosted on Tribe) to discuss sexual wellness, periods etc. PS: Mamaearth followed the footsteps of Glamm Group and acquired female-oriented content platform Momspresso!

🐠 Never lose this Clownfish

Every time we think of buying luggage, names like VIP, American Tourister only come to mind. While these brands have done a marvellous job in providing a functional product to the consumers, they lack styling. The Clownfish, a lifestyle luggage brand, offers chic and high-quality bags and handbags at an affordable price - its product range includes travel briefcases, messenger bags, backpacks, sling bags and more. The Clownfish recently raised an undisclosed amount from Velocity.in. In terms of new-age players, its competitors include Mokobara, Scarters, Daily objects etc.

The Luggage and backpacks market in India is valued at INR 8000 cr., 40% of it being organised. With revenge travel, solo-moon concepts garnering interest amongst the millennials, luggage that really describes their vibe, will get their dime!

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Brands that caught our eye!

🎋Plenty of Wood in the hood

Plastic based products are increasingly being seen in a negative light by consumers. Consumers are willing to make a small trade-off to buy alternatives that are less harmful to nature. Brands have caught onto the psyche of consumers & have been launching stylish lifestyle products that are wood-based - Check out wooden toothbrushes by Beco, sunglasses by Sasha, speakers by Deciwood.

👗Verandah from AM-to-PM

Anjali Patel Mehta launched Verandah to meet the need for bohemian luxe resort and lounge wear that is AM-to-PM-friendly. Each piece of Verandah has been inspired by a story e.g. T-91 is a collection about chances of finding a Ranthambore tiger that went missing, Jaisalmer collection is about a trip to a desert city. It uses artisanal, sustainable fabrics and handwork from across India.

The brand has taken many ESG initiatives including reef generation, anti-poaching, planting a tree on each purchase etc. Get your sustainable OOTD now!

Trend of the week: Fashion Jewellery 💎

Today, fashion apparel trends go hand-in-hand with accessories required to achieve the look of the day. Gone are the days of investing in white elephant jewels, consumers now look for light-weighted, fashionable and daily wear jewellery, and disrupting the jewellery market.

The current market size of imitation jewellery in India is pegged around INR 15,000 cr., out of which online retail contributes 2%. Growth drivers for this sector include detailed catalogue, accessibility and affordability. Here’re a few of our favourite jewellery brands:

Reads & Recommendations

Ten reasons why your D2C brand will fail.
AJVC’s predictions for 2022.
For those who still haven’t planned their new year’s getaway!
Kunal Shah @kunalb11
What are some the most visually stunning places in India to go and think for a week. Do share some recommendations. (Would love a picture along with your reccos.)
6:41 AM ∙ Dec 6, 2021
4,933Likes329Retweets

That’s all for this week!

Thanks for hanging around. Stay tuned for more insights about the D2C start-ups in India.

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