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January 6, 2026
Saumyangi Yadav, Entrepreneur India
Jan 6, 2026
After years of rapid growth and a sharp reset, India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector is expected to settle into a more balanced phase. The period of easy funding, aggressive customer acquisition and scale-at-all-costs expansion is clearly over, experts suggest. Now, what lies ahead in 2026 is a shift towards steadier growth driven by better execution, stronger retention and clearer brand positioning.
According to Bain and Flipkart, India’s e-retail market is projected to reach $170–190 billion in GMV by 2030, driven by a growing online shopper base and evolving commerce models. As adoption deepens across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, high-frequency categories such as grocery and lifestyle are expected to drive a larger share of growth, making repeat purchase and habit formation critical for D2C brands.
Against this backdrop, 2026 is shaping up as the year when D2C brands are judged less on ambition and more on outcomes.
A Post-Hype Phase of D2C
Industry observers say the D2C ecosystem has clearly moved beyond its hype-driven phase. Devangshu Dutta, Founder and Chief Executive of retail consultancy Third Eyesight, describes the current moment as one of structural correction rather than contraction.
“India’s D2C ecosystem is in a post-hype phase where growth may be slower but structurally healthier,” Dutta says, adding, “Earlier growth cycles prioritised visibility and sales at the expense of profitability and consistency. Now, success is being measured by repeat rates, contribution margins and the ability to fund growth internally.”
Tighter funding is also driving this shift. With D2C investments slowing and overall capital remaining cautious, brands are now being pushed to show predictability rather than promise. Tracxn data shows Indian D2C startups raised USD 757 million in 2024, significantly lower than previous years, while overall PE-VC investments in India remained flat at USD 33 billion in 2025, according to Venture Intelligence.
As a result, Dutta notes that many D2C companies are rationalising portfolios, tightening inventory cycles and optimising supply chains. Marketing strategies, too, are evolving, with greater emphasis on retention, community-building and owned channels instead of discount-led growth.
Uniqueness Will Define Winners
If capital discipline is one defining force, speed is another. Harish Bijoor, business and brand strategy expert, argues that D2C’s next phase will be shaped by how brands respond to a faster, more fragmented commerce environment.
“The e-commerce revolution led to a more refined orientation of D2C, and that has now given way to a q-commerce revolution that is even faster,” Bijoor says, adding, “The D2C revolution is going to be leveraged by speed. A whole host of players will invest time, energy and innovation into this.”
In Bijoor’s view, traditional e-commerce is now the slowest layer in a spectrum where quick commerce is the fastest, and D2C sits in between. In such a landscape, competing purely on price is no longer sustainable. He believes differentiation will increasingly come from uniqueness and premium positioning rather than ubiquity.
“When you know that you get a particular great-tasting biryani at just one place with no branches, you will go to that place. That uniqueness is what will distinguish D2C commerce in the future,” he says.
Bijoor adds that many D2C brands have been trapped in price wars under the guise of differentiation. He also argued that brands that premiumise and resist excessive omnichannel dilution are more likely to build desirability and long-term value.
Consumers Move Beyond Metros
Structural shifts in demand are reshaping how and where D2C brands grow. India now has one of the world’s largest and most diverse online consumer bases, with growth increasingly driven by Tier-2, Tier-3 and smaller towns rather than metros alone. Internet adoption continues to deepen across rural and semi-urban India, expanding the addressable market well beyond early digital buyers.
This widening base is changing the nature of growth. Consumers are becoming more deliberate in how they spend, weighing value, quality and trust more carefully than before.
As Devangshu Dutta notes, Indian consumers have always been discerning, but rising living costs and economic uncertainty have made them even more thoughtful, pushing brands to earn repeat demand rather than rely on impulse or discount-led purchases.
“Value is not just about discounts,” he says. “It’s a balance of price, performance and trust. For D2C brands, repeat consumption has to be earned through consistent quality, transparent pricing and dependable service.”
High-frequency categories such as grocery, lifestyle and general merchandise are expected to drive much of this expansion. Bain estimates these segments will account for two out of every three e-retail dollars by 2030, reinforcing the importance of habit formation and retention-led models.
Quick Commerce Expands Discovery, Not Profitability
Quick commerce has emerged as a powerful but complex growth lever for D2C brands. The format now accounts for a significant share of India’s e-grocery demand and has scaled into a multi-billion-dollar market, becoming a key discovery channel for food and everyday consumption brands.
However, expansion beyond metros remains challenging. RedSeer data shows non-metro markets contribute just over 20 per cent of quick commerce GMV, even as platforms scale to over 150 cities, with breakeven economics in smaller towns requiring significantly higher throughput.
Praveen Govindu, partner at Deloitte India, cautions that while quick commerce has helped many D2C brands gain discovery, particularly in food and beverage, it is not a sustainable growth engine on its own.
“From a customer acquisition standpoint, quick commerce is not fundamentally different from traditional e-commerce,” Govindu says, adding, “It is an expensive channel, and competition will only intensify. Over the long term, brands cannot rely on burning capital there.”
Omnichannel Enters Its Toughest Phase Yet
As digital acquisition costs rise, India’s ad market is projected to grow nearly 8 per cent in 2025 to Rs 1.37 lakh crore, with digital accounting for almost half of the spends, brands are being pushed to diversify distribution. Yet omnichannel presence alone is no longer enough.
“Many brands talk about omnichannel, personalisation and seamless journeys, but in practice these efforts are still disjointed. In 2026, the focus will shift from intent to execution,” Govindu says.
RedSeer projects India’s retail market to cross USD 2 trillion by 2030, with nearly 90 per cent of consumption still happening offline. For D2C brands, this makes offline expansion unavoidable, but success will depend on consistent execution across pricing, inventory, service and communication.
Consumers, Govindu notes, do not consciously differentiate between online, offline or social platforms. “They simply want a consistent experience,” he says. “Even small inconsistencies can erode trust.”
AI-Led Discovery and Experience
Perhaps the most transformative force shaping 2026 will be the evolution of buying journeys themselves. Govindu sees the rise of AI-led and agentic commerce as a major inflection point.
“Conversational platforms and AI-driven assistants will increasingly influence discovery, purchase, fulfilment and post-sales experiences. What earlier happened across multiple touchpoints is now beginning to happen in one place,” he says.
This convergence amplifies the importance of content-led discovery, owned data and deep consumer understanding. Brands that can unify storytelling, commerce and service into a coherent narrative are more likely to build loyalty in an environment where switching costs are low and alternatives are abundant.
Whether growth comes through D2C websites, marketplaces, quick commerce or offline stores, experts agree that the real differentiator will be a brand’s ability to build durable consumer relationships. As investors shift focus from short-term metrics to long-term value creation like retention, margins and brand strength, the next phase of India’s D2C story is less about rapid expansion and more about refinement.
(Published in Entrepreneur India)
Saumyangi is a Senior Correspondent at Entrepreneur India with over three years of experience in journalism. She has reported on education, social, and civic issues, and currently covers the D2C and consumer brand space.
admin
December 7, 2025
Gargi Sarkar, Inc42
7 December 2025
The past year has been nothing short of monumental for LensKart — from reporting another operationally profitable quarter in Q2 FY26 to making the public markets leap in November, and crossing a market capitalisation of INR 70,000 Cr despite a muted stock market debut.
A clear shift this year has been Lenskart’s effort to move beyond the image of a ‘basic D2C eyewear’ brand selling prescription glasses and sunglasses. The company is now working to reposition itself as a new-age tech brand.
Further, Lenskart is rethinking where and how its products are manufactured. Currently, around 20–25% of its frames are reportedly manufactured in India. The company is ramping up its domestic production. As a new manufacturing facility in Telangana is a work in progress, Lenskart intends to gradually shift most of its manufacturing operations from China to India.
In many ways, 2025 has been about scaling up for Lenskart, and as it embarks on a fresh journey as a publicly listed company, let’s take stock of the company in 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.
Lenskart’s Smart Eyewear Bet
Lenskart began its smart eyewear journey last year with the launch of Phonic, its audio glasses. It later deepened its push into the segment by announcing a strategic investment in Ajna Lens, a Mumbai-based deeptech company that develops AI-powered XR glasses. Back then, Peyush Bansal described the move as the “next chapter” in Lenskart’s smart glasses journey.
Cut to December 2025, the company is all set to launch its AI camera smartglasses, B by Lenskart, by the end of this month.
What makes B by Lenskart noteworthy is that it isn’t being marketed as just another pair of smart glasses. The new eyewear features an integrated Sony camera that enables hands-free photo and video capture. The glasses come with a built-in AI assistant powered by Gemini 2.5 Live. They are designed to offer natural, conversational interactions and pack in a range of advanced features — from hands-free UPI payments and live translation to wellness insights and more.
What makes the move even more significant is Lenskart’s decision to open B by Lenskart to India’s developer ecosystem. By making its AI and camera technology accessible to consumer apps and independent developers, the company is enabling integrations across categories such as food delivery, entertainment, and fitness.
“By opening its AI smartglasses to third-party developers, Lenskart is moving from a one-time product-sale model to a platform ecosystem model. In the long run, this could unlock recurring revenue streams and higher margins,” said a product developer.
Besides, the company is aligning itself with a younger customer cohort, aided by affordability, style, and technology.
“That’s what seems to define their current strategy. Over time, they’ve also brought in elements of innovation like virtual try-ons, and any product, feature, or service that brings novelty and appeals to younger customers has become part of their brand approach,” said Devangshu Dutta, the founder of Third Eyesight.
Next, the timing couldn’t be better for Lenskart to place its bet on smart glasses. An IDC report reveals that despite a slowdown in smartwatch and earwear segments in the second half of 2025, smart glass shipments shot off more than 1,000% over the last year.
However, it’s not going to be smooth sailing from here.
At its core, Lenskart is still a consumer-facing company, and it needs new products to keep its revenue growing. But the competition is already heating up. Jio unveiled its own AI-powered smart glasses, Jio Frames, at Reliance Industries’ 48th annual general meeting. And of course, Meta continues to lead the global smart glasses market.
At this point, smart eyewear is a niche category, which comes with a hefty price tag.
“Unless cost drops dramatically, mass adoption is still a distant dream. As of now, the product will only attract early adopters and tech enthusiasts, rather than the mainstream consumer,” Dutta adds.
Lenskart’s Make In India Push
Lenskart is not only widening its product range but also ramping up its manufacturing. The company currently operates centralised manufacturing facilities in India (Bhiwadi in Rajasthan and Gurugram in Haryana), Singapore, and the UAE. It also has manufacturing operations in China.
Back home, Lenskart has also signed a non-binding MoU with the Government of Telangana for setting up a greenfield manufacturing facility for optical glasses. The proposed investment stands at INR 1,500 Cr and will be supported by certain incentives and assistance from the state government.
The new production facility is expected to strengthen Lenskart’s domestic manufacturing capabilities while reducing its exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations and import-related volatility.
However, the expansion comes with its own set of challenges. While the new manufacturing plant in Telangana is expected to strengthen Lenskart’s vertical integration, it will come with a hefty cost burden.
Profitability Still A Troubling Question
The cost structure is becoming increasingly important for Lenskart. Despite its headline-grabbing profitability, the company is still operating on fairly thin margins.
Lenskart reported a net profit of INR 297 Cr in FY25, a notable turnaround from a loss of INR 10 Cr in FY24. However, market analysts caution that the business’ core operations were unprofitable. It was largely “other income” or investment income that drove the FY25 bottom line.
“Though Lenskart has increased its revenue from INR 3,789 Cr in FY23 to INR 6,651 Cr in FY25, the company’s profitability has largely improved due to a rise in other income. While it reported a PAT of INR 297 Cr in FY25, a closer look shows that the profit was driven significantly by an increase in other income, which jumped to INR 356 Cr in FY25,” SimranJeet Singh Bhatia, senior research analyst for equity at Almondz Group.
The point of concern here is that Lenskart turned operationally profitable only after its market debut. Bhatia believes that at least three to four quarters of consecutive profitability will be needed to prove the company’s underlying strength.
However, making matters worse are the company’s climbing expenses, which stood at INR 1,980.3 Cr in Q2 FY26, up 18.5% YoY.
What Lies Ahead?
The year was equally sour for the eyewear major. While its IPO generated significant buzz and saw strong subscription levels, its market debut turned out to be a muted affair.
At the upper end of its INR 382 to INR 402 IPO price band, the public issue implied a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of roughly 235–238 times its FY25 profits, placing it among the most expensive consumer tech listings in India.
On its first day of trading, Lenskart Solutions Ltd. was listed on the NSE at INR 395 per share, a discount of 1.74% to the issue price of INR 402. The stock, however, fell close to 9% shortly thereafter. On the BSE, it debuted at INR 390, marking a discount of nearly 3%.
After the IPO, Bhatia adds, the biggest concern surrounding Lenskart is the store-level unit economics, particularly because a significant share of the IPO proceeds is being directed toward expanding its company-owned, company-operated store network.
Entering the new year as a public company, Lenskart will have to prove that its scale-up plans are justified and that it has greater control over its balance sheet. 2026 will be a critical juncture for the company, as the next three to four quarters will be closely watched for signs of sustainable growth, improved margins, and stronger operational discipline.
[Edited by Shishir Parasher]
(Published in Inc42)
admin
December 1, 2025
Priyamvada C, Mint
1 Dec 2025
A wave of investor capital is flowing into India’s laboratory-grown diamond (LGD) segment, as fastscaling brands tap rising consumer adoption in a market now worth well over $300 million. New-age brands have raised multiple rounds of capital on the back of growing market share and improving margins.
Actor Shilpa Shetty-backed Limelight, which is in talks to raise its second round of capital this year, joins the growing list of other small brands such as Onya, Giva, Jewelbox, Lucira Jewellery and Aukera, among others, who have snagged monies in recent months. Limelight has appointed Ambit Capital to raise about $20 million to fund its expansion plans, two people familiar with the matter said.
Confirming the fundraise, the six year-old company’s co-founder Pooja Madhavan said the funds will be used towards store expansion and brand building as it looks to touch 100 stores over the next year. “We are in final talks with growth PE funds and reputed family offices (for the fundraise),” she told Mint.
Other similar fundraises include Onya’s ₹5.5 crore in a pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC last week, Aukera’s $15 million raise led by Peak XV Partners and Aditya Birla Ventures-backed Giva raised ₹530 crore in an internal round led by Premji Invest, Epiq Capital and Edelweiss Discovery Fund, as it looks to scale up its lab-grown diamond offerings.
Nine pure-play lab grown diamond startups collectively raised a record $26.4 million in 2025, compared with $4.7 million across eight startups last year, data from market intelligence provider Tracxn showed.
The development comes as India’s lab-grown diamond jewellery market, valued at about $300-350 million in 2024, expects to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% over the next decade, as per consultancy firm Redseer’s estimates. As the market evolves, several prominent jewellery brands will gradually pivot from exclusively natural/mined diamonds in favour of lab-grown alternatives, alongside high-end jewellers incorporating the lab-growns into their select collections, which will drive sales volumes and act as an affordable entry point for consumers.
This segment has particularly picked pace in the last five years, with millennials and gen Z leading this shift, driven by better value, trendier designs from new-age brands, and growing comfort with lab-grown diamonds as a certified, high-quality product. This category has also widened beyond occasional fashion to gifting, daily wear and increasingly bridal, reflecting sustained consumer confidence and a willingness to treat them as a mainstream jewellery option, Rohan Agarwal, partner at Redseer told Mint in an emailed statement.
He further added that new-age brands have steadily gained market share in the mid-ticket gifting and daily wear segment with many trying to push into premium ranges. While the competitive landscape is still evolving, incumbents have already started responding by launching LGD lines of their own, although the extent to which they can challenge remains to be seen.
Major Indian brands that are considering a foray into this category include Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Senco Gold, which has launched the subbrand Sennes and Tata’s Trent, which launched its brand Pome in Westside stores.
Devangshu Dutta, founder and chief executive officer at Delhi-based consulting firm Third Eyesight, echoed the sentiment. He explained that new-age lab grown diamond players are forcing traditional jewellers to introduce LGD options or risk losing younger customers. “Not just precious jewellery brands, even those that started as fashion jewellery are expanding their range with LGD designs.”
“Down the road, there is potentially scope for consolidation as investors tend to prefer a handful of scaled platforms with strong brand recall and robust economics. So, as the category matures, there may be strategic acquisitions by large jewellery houses and corporates, as well as mergers among funded startups,” he added.
Those startups that can combine in-house manufacturing, design capabilities and data-driven retail expansion would be at an advantage, Dutta said. “Key future growth areas for LGD startups include omnichannel retail presence within India, with offline stores especially in demand-dense locations such as the metros and Tier 1 cities, export markets both with potential cost advantages and brand expansion, and extending into fashion jewellery, everyday wear, coloured lab grown stones and even luxury collaborations that position lab grown as aspirational rather than merely budget friendly.”
(Published in Mint)
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June 13, 2025
Hiral Goyal, The Morning Context
13 June 2025
Several smart, well-to-do Indians believe they have an opportunity to build a successful business by selling apparel to affluent people. Armed with this hypothesis and with venture capital in tow, these entrepreneurs are having a go at the market.
Some are building a business just around undergarments, for instance. Others are focusing on premium T-shirts. Or denim wear. There’s also ethnic wear. And work clothes. Even workout clothes. It would appear that every niche in the apparel market is being exploited by someone who believes they have a product that can disrupt the category and create a large, sustainable business.
Amid this sea of ventures, BlissClub stands out.
In only five years of operations, the Bengaluru-based startup has made a name for itself. By simply focusing on premium activewear for women. Now that’s a niche within a niche.
Founded by Minu Margeret in 2020, BlissClub’s story goes something like this. Drawing on her personal experience as a frisbee player, Margeret started BlissClub to address the needs of Indian women who struggled to find comfortable and functional activewear. With inclusive sizing and tiny details such as pockets and wide waistbands in leggings, the startup catered to Indian women with products that were specifically designed for them and their body types.
The idea clicked. Women were willing to experiment with BlissClub’s clothing and, on the back of its early success, the company has grown from zero to revenue of over Rs 85 crore as of 31 March 2024. The startup has also been able to raise capital from VC investors like Elevation Capital, Eight Roads Ventures and Alteria Capital, who’ve come on board hoping that Margeret is onto something. Just last month, the company raised Rs 45 crore (around $5.3 million) in a Series B funding round, a mix of debt and equity. This took its total fundraise to nearly $26 million (Rs 222 crore), according to Entrackr.
Except that’s all the good news there is. Five years in, it looks like BlissClub is at a crossroads. Its revenue growth has slowed-from 360% year-on-year in 2022-23 to just 27% in 2023-24-and its valuation remains flat at $67 million.
Already, women’s activewear as a category is far too niche. It doesn’t help that BlissClub now faces intense competition from legacy players like Page Industries (Jockey’s India licensee), Aditya Birla Group and French sporting goods retailer Decathlon as well as startups like HRX and Clovia. All of them are trying to grow their sales to keep up with the rapidly growing trend of casual attire, where product differentiation is now largely down to marketing. It is another matter altogether that these customers are price-conscious, and disposable income to spend on premium clothing is limited to a few million people in India.
That’s the reality of the market where BlissClub operates. “The greatest challenge for the new athleisure brands, apart from capital and internal execution discipline, is to maintain brand integrity rather than get sucked into price battles and discounting, which is a race to the bottom that only the businesses with large balance sheets can win,” says Devangshu Dutta, founder and chief executive of Third Eyesight, a management consulting firm focused on the retail and consumer goods industry.
Questions sent to Margeret did not elicit a response. But it’s important to ask, what should BlissClub do? It may have had a great start, but is that enough to scale? This is what we’ve set out to explore in this story.
Fighting the big guns
Almost every customer in India who’s out to buy activewear or athleisure-has enough well-known brands to choose from. There’s Jockey, Decathlon, Nike, Puma, Adidas, Asics and Skechers, to name a few. And there’s something for everyone at every possible price point.
So, what particular need is BlissClub trying to fulfill?
Margeret says she started the company because she could never find appropriate activewear in the Indian market. From BlissClub’s website about its origin story: “While some clothes were comfortable, they simply did not stretch enough. Those that did stretch, were too compressive.” With BlissClub, Margeret focused on inclusive sizes and comfortable fabric that was ideally suited to India’s hot climate.
But are inclusivity and quality enough when it comes to having a differentiating factor? Not really.
Nothing, for instance, would stop other brands from copying BlissClub’s designs or offering comparable quality to gain customers. Additionally, BlissClub risks losing customers to other brands if it fails to keep up with its promise of top-most quality products. Some customers have already taken to social media recently to share their grievances (here, here, here and here). Their most common complaint? The quality of BlissClub’s fabric has gone down and there’s a lot of pilling.
On top of this, there is unrelenting competition from legacy players, most of whom have been building their athleisure portfolio for sometime now. Take Page Industries, for example. The company launched its athleisure portfolio in 1995, but it only doubled down on making it a key growth pillar in 2014-15. Just a couple of years later, Aditya Birla Group entered the men’s athleisure business with Van Heusen in 2016 and later expanded into women’s wear as well. Both these brands were quick to identify the shifting fashion trend to casual wear and benefited handsomely when the category finally exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic-as people started working from home and focusing on their physical health. Here’s what Page Industries’ CEO Karthik Yathindra told Mint in 2022 about the company’s decision to focus on athleisure: “So, the timing worked out for us very well. Demand has also been healthy across innerwear for men and women, but athleisure really surged a lot more than what we had anticipated or planned for. I would say, we jumped a year or two in terms of demand with athleisure compared to pre-pandemic days. We literally doubled our business. Whereas, overall, as an organization, we clocked 37-38% jump in revenue in the last financial year.”
It is no surprise then that these companies are well positioned in terms of the distribution network and the range of choices they offer to take on the Indian athleisure market as compared to BlissClub and other small players. Page Industries, for example, has more than 111,000 multi-brand stores and 1,453 exclusive brand stores, besides its digital presence through its own website and third-party marketplaces. BlissClub, on the other hand, has largely been an online player, selling products through its own website or through marketplaces like Myntra and Amazon. At present, it runs 14 retail stores across nine cities.
That’s no small gap, and competition is only going to heat up. So, what options does BlissClub have?
Stretched thin
From where BlissClub stands today, there are only a few ways it can grow its top line. Mostly because the size of India’s athleisure market remains small; it’s even smaller for women. “Athleisure is a $15 billion market with a CAGR of 20%. Of this, women are -30-40%,” says Gaurav Verma, co-founder and head of consumer investments at venture capital fund Ortella Global Capital. This $5-billion market for women’s activewear becomes smaller if we take into account only the premium space. (We couldn’t independently verify this estimate as there are no reliable reports available.)
In a niche market like this, there’s limited room to scale. Unless you cut down prices, introduce more categories, start catering to all genders or open retail stores. Let’s look at each of these options.
First up, the prices. Any premium brand that cuts prices risks diluting itself. Now, BlissClub has been handing out discounts and buy-one-get-one offers more liberally than ever before. For example, its Ultimate Leggings the company’s bestselling product -is priced at Rs 2,299 and sold at Rs 1,399 after discount. But when you compare it with Decathlon or homegrown brands like Hrithik Roshan-backed HRX or Clovia, you’d find that BlissClub remains in the premium segment even after discounts. And while lowering prices further might help BlissClub gain more customers, its margins-already EBITDA-negative-will most likely suffer.
The second strategy is introducing more categories. This is something BlissClub seems to be interested in. The startup entered the innerwear category with sports bras. The latest additions have been swimwear and travel wear. But in these segments, BlissClub is yet to replicate the kind of success it saw with its flagship products-Ultimate Leggings and Ultimate Flare Pants.
There is a bigger problem here. When it comes to athleisure startups, says Verma, “there are growth concerns beyond the top 3-5 SKUs [stock keeping units) like leggings, tops.” He goes on to say, “Unless we see growth in [direct-to-consumer) on higher-priced SKUs like jackets, shoes and accessories, we will continue to see pressure on both top line and bottom line growth.”
To make matters worse for BlissClub, the new categories the company is venturing into are witnessing increased competition. Take innerwear, for example. Influencer Kusha Kapila recently announced her shapewear brand Underneat, backed by Fireside Ventures and Mamaearth co-founder Ghazal Alagh. Besides this, players like Jockey, Clovia and Van Heusen have also been fighting for market share.
The third option, then, is to enter the menswear category. Though a natural extension for any athleisure brand, it does not promise scale. Let’s look at Technosport for some perspective. The A91 Partners-backed company, which sells affordable activewear for men and women across categories, reported a revenue of Rs 382 crore (around $44.5 million) in 2023-24. But that is after 18 years of operations and catering to the mass market with a fairly well-established distribution in the offline channel.
An even bigger challenge for BlissClub here would be to shake off its identity as a brand for women. Take the case of Lululemon. When the Canadian activewear company entered the men’s business in 2014, the biggest concern was that the brand was popularized by women and it would be tough to convince male customers to buy its products. The breakthrough here was the company’s ABC pants-short for anti-ball crushing pants-which helped Lululemon acquire male customers. Still, Lululemon continues to struggle with its identity as a women’s brand. Its latest effort to fight this was by making seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton its brand ambassador.
Finally, there’s the option of opening physical stores to acquire more customers. A digital-first strategy, says Dutta, allows the newer niche brands to directly connect with their target customers and achieve a critical mass. However, to get greater scale, “they need to add offline presence as well,” he notes. “Offline stores are not just a mainstreaming opportunity but also a way to create a brand immersion experience for the consumers, which can strengthen the connect with their core consumer segment.”
However, considering that BlissClub is a premium brand, it only makes sense for the brand to open outlets in high-street markets. But this would entail some serious expenditure. After all, opening retail stores requires capital.
Raising capital, though, does not look like a tall order for BlissClub. Its most recent fundraise, which will be used towards growth and expansion, is a testament to that. Before that, the company had raised $15 million in its Series A round. The credit for this partly goes to Margeret and Vidit Aatrey’s connections in the VC ecosystem. Aatrey, Margeret’s husband, is Meesho’s co-founder and CEO (the e-commerce company itself has raised $1.61 billion in total funding.)
Thanks to the funds it has been able to raise, BlissClub has had a good run so far.
However, with competition brewing in this space, the company risks losing its edge and becoming one of many. To give credit where it’s due, BlissClub has done a great job at building brand equity in the Indian activewear market. To grow beyond where it is today, though, it will need to rethink its strategy.
Perhaps it already is. In the last year, BlissClub has entered into categories beyond activewear; this includes innerwear, swimwear and most recently, travel wear. At the same time, it is also opening retail stores across the country.
How BlissClub scales will leave cues not just for Margeret but everyone else who believes they can build a niche apparel company in India successfully.
(Published in The Morning Context)
admin
May 5, 2025
Mint, 5 May 2026
Priyamvada C., Sneha Shah
Urban India’s pet parents are driving a wave of investor interest in the pet care space. A clutch of startups such as Heads Up For Tails, Supertails, and Vetic are now in fundraising talks amid rising demand for premium products and services
While Supertails looks to raise about ₹200 crore by the end of this year, Heads Up For Tails is eyeing an investment from domestic investment firm 360 One Asset over the next few months, according to mul tiple people familiar with the matter.
Vetic, a tech-enabled chain of pet clinics, is looking to raise a sizeable round and has begun discussions with investors, they said, adding that some of these transactions may see existing investors part exit their stake.
Supertails and Vetic did not immediately respond to Mint’s requests for a comment. While 360 One declined to comment, Heads Up For Tails’ founder Rashi Narang denied the development.
Investor interest in pet care surged in the years following the pandemic, driven by a wave of new pet adoptions and rising disposable incomes. In 2023, pet care startups raised a record $66.3 million across 16 rounds, led by one major transaction ― Drool’s $60 million fundraise.
While 2023 saw a funding spike driven by Drool’s large deal, overall funding activity in 2024 was more broad-based, with fundraising at $17.9 million spanning 13 rounds, as per Tracxn.
“Pet ownership in India is estimated to be less than 10% of overall households, but growing at a rapid pace with rising incomes, especially among urban consumers. In developed economies, pet ownership can exceed three in four households, and that headroom for growth is reflected among the upper income segments in India,” said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of Third Eyesight, a management consulting firm.
He added that urban couples and singles in many cases are even opting to become “pet parents” instead of having children.
Platforms such as Supertails, Drools and Heads Up For Tails have been the big beneficiaries of this shift. Drools raised $60 million from LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton in 2023, while Supertails raised $15 million led by RPSG Capital Ventures in February last year.
Similarly, Supertails, which is in talks to acquire Blue 7 Vets, a multi speciality veterinary clinic, as part of its strategy to expand offline, will also raise capital to fund the acquisition of new customers, investments in technology, and the expansion of healthcare services, including Super-tails Pharmacy and build an omni-channel experience for consumers.
The company raised about $15 million in its series B funding round last year led by RPSG Capital Ventures and existing investors Fireside Ventures, Saama Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Sauce VC.
(Published in Mint)
