Suchita Salwan

Waimea New York is gearing up for major offline expansion in India! Just two months after launching online, the denim menswear brand is making waves. 📈 Key highlights: - Partnered with Andhra Pradesh-based MBO Tipsy Topsy, which operates over eight stores. - In talks with other retailers including Hyderabad-based Ant Eye. - Entered the Indian market in April 2024, now available on Myntra, Ajio, Amazon, and Nykaa Fashion. - India chosen for its booming fashion market and youthful demographic favoring bold fashion choices. - Price range for jeans in India: Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000. 🗣️ "The decision to expand in India stems from its rapidly growing fashion market, particularly in the streetwear and denim segments. India offers a youthful demographic with a penchant for bold fashion choices, aligning perfectly with our target audience," said Mahesh Khemlani, CEO of Waimea New York. >> Future plans include establishing a strong foothold in India, expanding retail presence across key cities, and exploring potential manufacturing partnerships in the country. Waimea is all set to bring its edgy denim styles to the Indian streets! https://lnkd.in/gvWyigKw #retailexpansion #waimeanewyork #denimfashion #indianmarket #fashiongrowth #fashionretail #internationalbrands

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Did you know that #labelpadhegaindia campaign is not the first of it's kind - encouraging people to start reading labels and making an informed choice. Well, back in 2017 an App was launched in France as a tool to uncomplicated the complex Ingredient lists in products. The idea was simple “it would be very useful to have a tool that could quickly and simply tell us if a product is good or bad.” Thanks to the labelpadhegaindia campaign we might see apps like these being launched in India too (if not already in the working). Are you familiar with any label scanning app or used one? #RevantHimatsingka #apps #ai #scan #health #wellness #ewg #inci

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Announcing the next big conversation at the D2C Unlocked Delhi-NCR chapter 🗣️🎤 Join Arush Chopra, Co-Founder of Just Herbs, and Manu Chandra, Founder & Managing Partner of Sauce.vc, as they dive into the topic: 𝐈𝐏𝐎 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃2𝐂 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 Arush brings to the table his firsthand insights from steering Just Herbs through this pivotal chapter of the Marico partnership, meanwhile, Manu enriches discussions with a comprehensive understanding of the D2C ecosystem, drawing from Sauce VC's investments in pioneering brands like XYXX Crew and The Whole Truth Foods. The conversation, “IPO or Strategic Acquisition: The End Game for D2C Brands,” is more than just a debate—it’s an in-depth examination of what the future holds for D2C brands. What's the secret sauce for D2C brands to flourish in today's market? Is going public the ultimate goal, or are partnerships a smarter move? Inviting all D2C Founders/CXOs in Delhi-NCR to join us on April 25th, 2024, at 6 PM for an exchange of ideas that’s as thought-provoking as it is insightful. D2C Unlocked is presented by Simpl and powered by Affinidi, AdYogi, & Shipway. See you there—let’s fuel the buzz! Register : https://lnkd.in/gAabp73G

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Today, we are excited to share our biggest investment as Antler, in India so far. At Antler, incl. our Elevate continuty fund (Fady Abdel-Nour, CFA), we're thrilled to co-lead a $11M pre Ser A in Namma Yatri, alongside Blume Ventures Karthik B. Reddy and Google In this business, a few times in your career, you come across a truly disruptive business model that challenges the way things have been done, and extremely obsessed founders creating a culture that is so unique, you have never seen it before. When that happens, despite all the things not clear, it’s a joy to jump on board that potential rocketship. That’s what we have seen in the way Namma Yatri is being built by Magizhan Selvan and Shan M S with (a) a disruptive business model in urban mobility, rethinking how to make the life of a driver better and (b) Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) at its heart. 46 million trips have already been completed, with >7 million registered users. For us, this is also a continuation of our commitment to investing in a future on DPI / Beckn / ONDC, started in 2022. h/t Susmit Patodia. Rajiv Srivatsa Magnus Grimeland Martell Hardenberg Teddy Himler Keerat Singh Sethi Vimal Kumar Sheetal Lalwani T Koshy sujith nair Pramod Varma

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Raised $26,000,000 with just an idea Lyskraft India Pvt Ltd - the latest kid in the block! So, Mukesh Bansal is back with another startup this time with Mohit Gupta, the former CEO of Zomato's food delivery arm. In July of last year, there were reports about Bansal and Gupta raising funds for a new venture. As per TechCrunch, both of them pitched a range of ideas to potential backers like a female-focused counterpart to Manyavar and "Infosys 2.0" a presumed upgrade to a multinational IT services and consulting firm. Now finally... The news is out and we know what they are building, Lyskraft: initially a women's only marketplace for premium brands mostly focusing on Gen-Z shoppers. Recently we have seen giant e-commerce platforms launching dedicated portals to attract GenZ shoppers, like SPOYL launched by Flipkart within its app, FWD by Myntra, also we are seeing the growth of new-age startups working in this space like Virgio(Mukesh Bansal is an investor in it), Newme(recently raised $4,500,000), Absolute Brands, Snitch, Styched and many more As per Inc42's Report, India's fashion and apparel sector is projected to reach a mouth-watering $112 Billion by 2030, which will be over a quarter of the country's $400 Billion e-commerce market!! Let's be honest, anyone will want a piece of this market. As we are already aware of how crowded this space is, let's see how Lyskraft differentiates itself from others. Mohit Gupts and Mukesh Bansal, in this crowded space building a community around your product, building digital IPs, and creating experiences through videos are the ways to elevate your brand to the next level. I the founder of Elevate would love to connect and assist Lyskraft in building a community, digital IPs and help create experiences through videos, if that sounds like something that interests you would love to connect and discuss!! sources of information : TechCrunch article 2021 - https://bit.ly/49UwkLI Inc42 article - https://bit.ly/3w0SDlb #mukeshbansal #myntra #fashion #startups #venturecapital #fundingwinter #norevenue #cultfit #community #communitymarketing #socialmediamarketing #india

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Lenskart.com recently received a new round of funding from Temasek and Fidelity Investments. If I were to analyze the reasons behind this success from the lens (pun intended) of retail operations, it's no surprise why this brand is scaling so well.  . Here are the top 5 reasons why Lenskart is an exemplary D2C brand mastering retail 👇👇👇 . . . #retailinnovation #Lenskart #retailstoredesign #storeofthefuture #retailtrends #experientialretail #retailcollaboration #D2Cretail #Lenskart #Funding #RetailSuccess #D2C #CustomerExperience #TechInnovation #ProductFocus #ValueShopping #RetailStorytelling #IntuitiveDemos

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In a conversation with Rohit Agarwal Agarwal, Cofounder and Head of Business Operations at Urban Space, we explore the brand's journey since its launch in 2018. At a time when #ecommerce was on the rise and consumers flocked to marketplaces for #discounts, Urban Space took a different approach by prioritizing quality products over competing solely on price. As we look ahead to 2024, Rohit shares exciting plans for #expansion, including the opening of physical stores. Urban Space aims to become a go-to home furnishing brand, catering to all aspects of #homedecor. In this episode, Rohit discusses the #marketgaps he identified when launching Urban Space, highlighting the opportunities that inspired him to create a brand focused on quality and #customerexperience. Stay tuned for next episodes that will share Rohit's insights on #markettrends #customerbehaviourpatterns #challenges #futureplans & #AI. #D2Cbrands #homefurnishingbiz #businesstalks #entrepreneurialjourney #quickcommerce #Indianretailbiz #Omnichannelretail

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Meituan Sells Over $200M Stake in Swiggy Ahead of IPO Chinese lifestyle e-commerce giant Meituan has sold over $200 million worth of its stake in Swiggy to a US-based investor through a secondary deal, according to sources. Meituan first invested in Swiggy in 2018, later increasing its stake in 2020. The recent sale, which occurred last week, valued Swiggy at around $10 billion, though the exact stake sold remains undisclosed. Currently, Meituan holds a 3.88% stake in Swiggy via Inspired Elite Investments, according to TheKredible. Other investors, including Elevation Capital and Norwest, are also offloading shares ahead of Swiggy’s anticipated IPO in the coming weeks. Swiggy plans to raise $450 million through a fresh issue of shares, alongside an undisclosed amount via an offer for sale. Swiggy reported a 36% revenue increase for FY24, reaching Rs 11,247 crore, while reducing net losses by 44% to Rs 2,350 crore. Its main competitor, Zomato, achieved profitability in FY24 and has seen its market capitalization nearly double to $27.3 billion since going public in 2021. #Leadership #Innovation #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #BusinessInsights

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Q-Commerce overtaking traditional e-commerce? Currently we are seeing a big boom in terms of the different SKUs being sold in Quick commerce apps like Zepto, Blinkit, etc. - Atomberg Technologies 's fans - Sony's PS5 - Samosa, Chai and what not - Digital Gold from Jar! Zepto is in talks to raise $300m for its broader ecommerce play. While Swiggy is preparing to file for an IPO this year, incumbent Flipkart is readying its entry into quick commerce. Zomato has invested $240 million in Blinkit over the last one year. Taking a step back, the lines between quick commerce and traditional e commerce have started to become increasingly blurred with QCom pretty much catering to every needs! Also, multiple reports suggest that QCommerce can potentially become bigger than traditional e commerce in India!  Case in point : According to Goldman Sachs, the valuation of Blinkit is greater than Zomato's core food delivery biz! Non-grocery boom in Q-Commerce: Categories including beauty, toys, health and electronics are witnessing robust sales growth on quick-commerce platforms overall. While the overall base for the new categories is still small, aggressive expansion by these players is starting to ensure a dominant presence for these categories. Plus AOV is higher which also comes with better margins, making it a win-win! Case in point: Zepto - 2x sales MoM in segments such as toys and electronics accessories - Beauty category expanded 3x QoQ - ~15% of Zepto’s $1.2bn annualised gross sales currently comes from non-grocery products (Source: Goldman Sachs) For several D2C quick commerce has become the fastest growth channel as well as the platform with highest customer engagement This is definitely a positive for the consumers and the Q-Commerce players, but is everything on the up and up?   As the demand for space on quick-commerce platforms skyrockets, niche D2C cos in segments like FMCG, beauty and personal care, and health and fitness are agreeing to pay a 30-45% commission on sales, besides shelling out on advertising and discounting on these Q-Com platforms. On top of the commissions, brands are also regularly spending around 20% of their total sales on ads on the platforms, and discounting their products by about 20-25% (totaling 60-70% revenue!). This is in stark contrast to the 10-20% commission that large FMCG cos pay these platforms reflecting the intense competition for visibility. The brand's scale and comparison with competitors are crucial considerations when it comes to new listings. On the positive side, smaller D2C brands have seen 40-60% total revenue coming from Q-Commerce compared to ~10-20% from traditional ecommerce, which is surprising! Essentially, Q-com currently has a BIIIG Bargaining power against new D2C brands and can essentially make or break their businesses! Is this sustainable on the long run? #ecommerce #quickcommerce #india #zepto #businessmodel #d2c #startups #LIPostingChallenge

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Who exactly is losing market share in the hotly contest grocery commerce? I thought it must be the now-not-so modern retail, but I'm not so sure. Zepto raised $665 Mn at a valuation of $3.6 Bn, and is in talks to raise $250 Mn more. And their cofounder and CEO Aadit Palicha recently commented that they can beat DMart - Avenue Supermarts Ltd on GMV in the next 12-18 months. Swiggy Instamart also is growing, and Blinkit is likely to be more valuable than their owner Zomato itself - so they are all doing well, even if Dunzo isn't. Sure, no idea what JioMart Digital is doing, but deep pockets. Same with Tata Digital and their weird assortment forced to converge on Neu. bigbasket.com is trying to unlearn and relearn, and it just might. And Flipkart Grocery and Amazon Fresh are also upping their game - launching faster deliveries, discounts, improved fill rates, and selection. So I wonder if it is the modern-trade players? The likes of More Retail Private Limited, Spencer's Retail, STAR BAZAR, and SPAR Retail that are suffering? The nearest Spencer's to me is definitely a sore sight, now reduced to a shell of it's former glory - I think they aren't even replenishing inventory now. And we all know what happened to Big Bazaar - Future Retail. But Dmart itself isn't doing half bad - with pareto presence in just 23 cities, and no presence in UP (except NCR), Bihar, and West Bengal, they have considerable headroom, still. And they haven't yet quite solved for ecommerce, so while The Ken says that they are lost, they may find their way, eventually? I also don't think that the real consumption is growing, if at all, it may even shrink with the K-growth. Thus, some one _is_ losing share. And if it is not modern trade, then is it the regional chains? The single kiranas? The corner-store? The hand-cart? I'm not entirely sure because this data is hard to organize, and get. Would you know? Image created by AI in Microsoft Bing Copilot.

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Gururam-based angel investment platform Inflection Point Ventures has announced a full exit from Jaipur-based D2C fashion brand Fashor with a 33% IRR. The firm said it has achieved 3.75X MoM (Money over money) from this exit within 54 months of investing in the startup. Read the full story here: 👇 https://lnkd.in/djhTrmvS #funding #investors #angelinvestors #d2c #fashion #entrepreneur #indianstartupnews

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The last decade has seen many sizeable consumer brands emerge across categories in India and they have also given venture scale returns(10-100x)to the investors And with it, we now see a lot of VC interest in consumer brands, even from funds who have traditionally not done consumer But after having observed the consumer brands ecosystem as an insider for a decade, I think the model of consumer investing in India will change Consumer brands take time to build. It is difficult to blitzscale and unicorns will be the exception, not norm. But the opportunity is huge for both founders and investors to let it go And in my opinion, the most likely best case outcomes for good brands will either be an IPO or an acquisition by an incumbent, most probably at a 1000-3000 cr valuation. And Indian public markets definitely have good appetite for 1000-3000 cr valued profitable brands So, we might evolve to a model where a single VC does the seed, series A and series B and puts around 100 crs across 3 rounds over a 6-7 year period. And if a brand has a good proposition and ruthless execution and wants to grow in a capital efficient manner without the pressures of blitzscaling and raising a round every 1-2 years, this capital could often be enough to build a company worth 1000-3000 crs and reach a significant liquidity event Of course, there will be delayed gratification for both the investor and the founder. No secondaries, no external validation of increase in valuation till the liquidity event But this will significantly increase the chances of success of the brand. And most importantly, good consumer brands at a 80-100 cr scale with strong unit economics won’t need to struggle to raise funds as new VCs entering in series B find it difficult to underwrite a 400-500 cr price( justifiably so)

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📣 Launch Alert 📣 The Coming of Age of D2C Report - Vol. 1 (India) is now available. This report by Sorin Investments, 1Lattice, and Toplyne covers the booming D2C landscape in India. Explore the four key segments of Electronics, Fashion, Beauty & Personal, and Grocery, along with their economic impact, growth drivers, challenges, key success factors and enablers. Download the full report using the link in comments. Sorin Investments 1Lattice ETtech #consumer #ecomm #d2c

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Online food delivery and quick commerce startup Swiggy pulled off a successful initial public offering (IPO) last week, but not without a dose of market realism over continued retail investor appetite for large initial share sales. While Swiggy’s $1.4 billion IPO, which was India’s second-largest this year, was oversubscribed 3.6 times overall, there were telltale signs of retail investor fatigue. To be sure, Swiggy slashed its IPO valuation twice over to finally arrive at a $11.3 billion figure, 25% below the initial goal of $15 billion, which signals how the startup had already anticipated the weak market sentiment and trimmed expectations to the right size. Amongst other IPOs that were launched last week before Swiggy, Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company, too, is understood to have adjusted its share prices downward from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 2,200 crore amid the depressed market conditions. Equity investors are hammered by a heady cocktail of bad news—lacklustre corporate earnings, high inflation, and foreign institutional investors pulling out funds from India amid the stimulus in China and the exuberance in the US markets following Donald Trump’s victory in the country’s presidential elections. Going forward, in the desire to make the US great again, there could be a flight of capital back to the US, said experts. The Indian market has been trending down, with the two broader indexes—the benchmark BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50—down about 10% from the record highs seen in September. Many thanks Girish Vanvari [Transaction Square] Pranav Pai [3one4 Capital] and Anup Jain [BlueGreen Ventures] for sharing your perspective on the story and Pranav Haldea [PRIME Database Group] for the data on startup IPOs in India. Zomato IndiaMART InterMESH Limited Affle Route EaseMyTrip.com Nazara Technologies Limited CarWale Nykaa Policybazaar.com Paytm Pramod Mathew DealStreetAsia https://lnkd.in/g_yAb8cR

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Building brands and business is difficult. And not having free access to playbooks/knowledge should never be a roadblock in the journey Arindam Paul well said. Sharing it in my network, as I truly believe in this. Together we become strong and successful.

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🚨 EXCLUSIVE Aditi Shrivastava breaks down Meesho's numbers for the first half of FY25: 🛍️Annualised recurring revenue: > $1 billion 🛒 Net merchandise value: Rs 14,251 crore ⬆️ 29% (y-o-y) 📌 Revenue: Rs 4,405 crore 24% 📌 Loss: Rs 41 crore The Arc Analysis: https://lnkd.in/g9tGkCS4 We're ON IT.

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The Swiggy of 2024 is a shadow of its former self. The foodtech startup has been playing defence for too long now—whether with products, innovation, market share, narrative, or even leadership. How did it get here? As it heads for an IPO, how should it change this narrative? Rohin Dharmakumar explains in the first edition of Two by Two—The Ken's brand-new weekly newsletter based on our subscriber-only podcast of the same name. Read it for free by clicking the link in the comments. --------- #TheKen #TwobyTwo #Swiggy #Foodtech #IPO #PublicMarkets

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The Swiggy of 2024 is a shadow of its former self. [Full subscriber episode 🔓] The foodtech startup has been playing defence for too long now—whether with products, innovation, market share, narrative, or even leadership. How did it get here? As it heads for an IPO, how should it change this narrative? Listen to the full, uncut version of this Two by Two episode for free (only for a limited time) by clicking the link in the comments. ----------- #TheKen #TwobyTwo #Swiggy #Foodtech #QuickCommerce

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🚨Zepto founder Aadit Palicha denies killing kiranas, says quick commerce will create more jobs than Indian Railways 🚨 A candid and detailed interview with Zepto founder Aadit Palicha Headlines "We are in spirit, an Indian company. This is not Amazon or Walmart." "We're going to become Indian owned next year. We're not strategically controlled by Americans" "We would like to just say that we, in our hearts, are an Indian company, Indian management team, Indian board, Indian promoters and aggressively moving to list in India" "We’ll do another pre-IPO round later and then do an IPO, realistically within the next financial year" "With no predatory pricing, we are deflationary for the Indian consumer. DMart, for example, is meaningfully cheaper than MRP, but they are highly profitable - are they doing predatory pricing as well?" "In the next 2-3 years, this industry will generate $1 billion in direct taxes cumulatively for the government. And, $300-400 million would come from Zepto alone" "Quick commerce will generate more jobs than the Indian Railways would do in the next 2-3 years" "Paying the maximum retail price (MRP) is unfair to the consumer" "Middle class shrinking narrative isn't correct" with Tushar Goenka https://lnkd.in/gWwDt86w

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