In an age where consumer attention spans are shrinking and loyalty is fickle, D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands are discovering the ultimate growth hack: going niche. While traditional wisdom has often emphasized scale and mass-market appeal, a new wave of founders is proving that smaller audiences with specific needs can yield far more explosive growth—if brands are brave (and smart) enough to listen closely and build accordingly.

From sexual wellness to artisanal cheese, luxury sneakers to Alco-Bev experimentation, niche D2C brands are finding loyal tribes, passionate advocates, and surprising scale. We spoke to four bold entrepreneurs who are reshaping the rules of brand-building in India by embracing small, focused, and obsessed communities.

“Gen Z doesn’t want choices. They want relevance.” 

In the intimate and often hush-hush space of sexual wellness, Bold Care has managed to build not just a consumer base but a vocal community. But that laser focus comes with its own challenges—particularly when it’s time to scale.

“So, it’s very hard to scale when personalization is at the core,” says Parinita Hendre, Business Head, Bold Care. “But we’ve learned something critical—our audience, mostly Gen Z and young millennials, doesn’t want a hundred options. They want relevance. And that relevance comes from deeply personal experiences, which we cultivate by speaking directly to them.”

Yes, literally picking up the phone.

As Hendre explains, “We talk to our users regularly—what’s working, what’s not, how they're using the products. That feedback gets looped into product development. In our category, performance is a key reason users come to us. So, we hyper-focus on solving for that—through everything from product design to content to nutrition advice.”

But even once the product clicks, retaining young users is a beast of its own.

“Gen Z loyalty is a paradox,” Hendre laughs. “They do make that first purchase fast, but sustaining them takes more than just value. We’ve realized you need vibe + value. That’s our internal mantra now. Content has to speak their language. You can’t just offer a good product—you have to feel like them. If you miss the vibe, you lose them.”

“From Tier I to Tier III, aspiration sells. And cheese is love.” 

When Prateek Mittal launched Crèmeitalia in 2019, he wasn’t just selling cheese—he was selling a lifestyle. The startup manufactures European-style artisanal cheeses in India, plugging a serious gap in a market historically dominated by processed dairy.

“We started B2B—cafes, hotels, chefs—but saw the consumer market evolving rapidly,” says the Founder & CEO. “People now want natural, protein-rich products, and cheese is a delicious way to meet that demand.”

While many consider premium cheese a metro-only luxury, Crèmeitalia’s growth tells a different story.

“Aspiration is universal,” Mittal insists. “Tier II and Tier III markets are waking up to global cuisines. Italian food is everywhere, and with social media, people know what burrata is even in smaller cities. Add to that peer pressure and FOMO—it’s a perfect storm.”

The brand has leaned hard into storytelling, driven largely by recipes, influencer content, and food culture trends.

“You can’t just post product pics anymore,” Mittal explains. “You have to show how it fits into someone’s life—how to use it, what to make with it, and why it matters. That’s how you build trust in niche categories.”

“The fastest way to grow is to take the longest time to build.” 

You might have seen Culture Circle on Shark Tank India—or maybe you’ve visited one of their ultra-cool retail spaces in Hyderabad, Mumbai, or Goa. The brand bills itself as Asia’s #1 hype and luxury marketplace, offering everything from Nike Air Jordans to LV trainers, all curated and compared across sellers.

But despite the flash and flair, the journey was anything but fast.

“Our secret? We took a really long time to build,” says Ackshay Jain, Co-Founder, Culture Circle. “Everyone’s chasing virality or quick growth, but the truth is, if you don’t have a phenomenal product, you’re just throwing money into a leaky bucket.”

Jain and his team built Culture Circle as a Skyscanner-like platform for sneakerheads and luxury streetwear lovers—offering price comparisons, rare drops, and authenticity checks. They launched as a non-monetized side project and used customer feedback like gospel.

“We spoke to users constantly. We built slowly. We didn’t monetize until we saw 60,000 organic users. And that’s the difference,” Jain adds. “You have to build something that users talk about. Everything else follows.”

What about keeping Gen Z loyal?

“Don’t even try with gimmicks,” he laughs. “They see right through it. Build a product so good they can’t help but come back. We don’t chase them—they chase what’s cool. And if your platform is where they find the cool, they’ll stay.”

“We’re not just selling liquor. We’re selling experiences Gen Z hasn’t had before.” 

In a heavily regulated, legacy-dominated industry like alcohol, disruption seems nearly impossible. But Vibhuti Dixit, Founder, Basil Alliance is flipping the narrative—and taking Gen Z along for the ride.

“We’re probably the only Alco-Bev company in Delhi NCR that’s doing this kind of flavor experimentation,” Dixit declares. “We recently launched something called SkyShots—a bucket of 16 pre-mixed shots. It’s a party starter for your living room.”

The innovation is aimed squarely at younger drinkers who want to socialize but also value convenience, novelty, and safety. And it’s working.

“This kind of product wasn’t even on the radar of legacy brands. But we knew from conversations and feedback that young drinkers wanted fun, easy ways to celebrate. So we gave them that.”

And even though liquor marketing is heavily restricted, user-generated content keeps the momentum going.

“We don’t even have to ask people to post. They do it anyway. After a fun night, they tag us. That’s our best ad,” Dixit smiles. “The challenge is to keep innovating while staying responsible. But the key is: they feel like this brand was made for them, not handed down by a 200-year-old European distillery.”

Why Niche Works—and What It Takes to Win

If there's a recurring theme here, it’s this: winning niche is about going deeper, not wider.

Instead of chasing massive audiences, these brands are obsessing over micro-insights, user feedback, product quality, and cultural relevance. They’re building with community, storytelling, and authenticity at the core.

“It’s no longer about having the loudest ad,” says Prateek Mittal. “It’s about creating something that fits seamlessly into your customer’s life—and gets talked about.”

Ackshay Jain puts it bluntly: “If you're prioritizing sales, you've failed at marketing. If you're prioritizing marketing, you've failed at product. Build something people love. Then scale.”

And that might just be the new growth hack of our times—thinking small, obsessing over the niche, and building with a kind of care the mass-market never allowed.

In a world drowning in options, the brands that win are the ones that say: we see you, we hear you, we made this for you.

Niche isn’t a limitation. It’s a superpower. And the next wave of iconic brands won’t be the ones shouting the loudest. They’ll be the ones listening the hardest.