A significant contribution to the fundraising in the last quarter also stems from the television reality show Shark Tank Season 3
IndiaRetailing Insights: Fundraises in the retail sector in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the financial year (FY) 2023-2024 crossed over Rs 1,105 crore according to the analysis by IndiaRetailing Insights, a retail intelligence unit.
According to the data compiled in the fourth quarter of the last financial year, several D2C brands and other retail players like Bummer, abCoffee, Subko, The Ayurveda Experience, JustDeliveries, SuperK, Iluvia, Kushal, Koparo, The Baker’s Dozen, Salty, Wow! Momo and Arzooo have all raised funds totalling over Rs 1,105 crore.
Monthly Figures
In January, brands and D2C companies like fashion brand Unirec, clothing brand Kribea, Bakery brand The Baker’s Dozen, D2C brand Salty, and food chain Wow! Momo, consumer electronics company Arzooo collectively raised capital of over Rs 450 crore.
Fundraising in February was subdued, with the total raised being Rs 290 crore compared to Rs 450 crore in January. The brands successfully receiving investment in February include hair-care startup Iluvia, jewellery brand Kushal, D2C brand Koparo, and fashion brand Beyoung, with some investments undisclosed to the media.
In March, a clutch of investors infused Rs 365 crore into several D2C brands and other retail players like innerwear brand Bummer, online coffee company abCoffee and Subko, skincare brand The Ayurveda Experience, logistics company JustDeliveries and retail chain SuperK.
These investments were raised from venture capitalists like Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund, Fluid Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Tanglin Venture Partners, Blume Founders Fund, The Gauri Khan Family Trust, Priya and actor John Abraham, Sangita Jindal, Srinivas, Pallavi Dempo, The Mehta International Mauritius Limited Group, Jungle Ventures, SIDBI Ventures, Anicut Capital, Sharrp Ventures, FAAD Network, Anay Ventures, Caret Capital, Mahansaria Family Office, Blume Ventures, Silver Needle Ventures, Veltis Capital, Atrium Angels, Fireside Ventures, Multiply Ventures, Lighthouse India Fund IV AIF, MVP, Fluid Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, Titan Capital, Wipro Consumer Care – Ventures, Fireside Ventures, Mirabilis Investment Trust, She Capital, All in Capital, Anucut Capital, SuashishDiamonds, JK Group, Z3Partners, SBI Investment, 3 Lines, Trifecta and DoorDash founder Tony Xu among others.
What fueled fundraises in the last quarter?
A significant contribution to the capital infusion in the last quarter came through the television reality show Shark Tank Season 3 where almost 15O brands and startups mopped up funds ranging between Rs 70 – Rs 112 crores as per the details of per episode in media reports.
In addition to this, crucial factors like the omnichannel transition throughout the retail landscape, understanding of physical/offline businesses as paramount, and future investments in potential resources like technology, manpower and others have all played major roles in the robust fundraising season, according to some of the market watchers and experts who spoke to IndiaRetailing on the sidelines of the recently concluded Phygital Retail Convention 2024 in Mumbai.
Commenting on the trend seen nowadays, Harmanpreet Singh, co-founder and managing partner at Prath Ventures, a Mumbai-based venture capital and private equity firm said, “I think this is part of an ongoing trend with a lot of renewed interest in omni-channel consumer businesses.”
“The early-stage investors in 2020-2021 had a strong preference for purely online businesses. The channel is inherently non-linear, CACs were lower, and there was a consumer shift due to COVID-19. Somewhere in 2022, the founders and then investors realized that D2C can not be the only channel. It has to be an omnichannel strategy with retail, offline distribution and marketplaces all thrown in the mix,” added Singh comparing the businesses and consumer change.
Prath’s last quarter investment was the Luggage Brand called Assembly, a pre-series A round of around Rs 17 crore. In addition to this, it has also invested in brands like Jimmy’s Cocktails and Hustle Energy Drink among others.
Certainly, there is renewed interest in consumer businesses; particularly in lifestyle categories such as coffee chains, QSRs, fashion, home decor, jewellery and beauty, according to experts.
“I expect that there will be higher aggression from investors and the pace to accelerate in the next few quarters,” added Singh.
The analysis is based on the data compiled basis IndiaRetailing reports, company information via press releases and social media and other information shared by retail experts and officials.
