Flipkart, the e-commerce giant has launched the ‘Flipkart Boost’, a program for ‘Made in Inda’ D2C brands. The initiative will provide emerging D2C brands end-to-end support covering all the basic needs such as planning, advertising, cataloging, logistics, quality control, and mentoring in order to achieve new grounds.

The Flipkart Boost program will shortlist brands based on a clear set of pre-decided objective criteria, which covers their growth potential, sustainable revenue run rate, focus on quality, commitment to building a long-lasting brand, strong product mix, and customer orientation. The company’s initiative is to help budding brands under a meaningful and insight-led partnership.

According to a report by Avendus Capital, “The D2C sector in India is worth $44.6 billion (end of FY 2021) currently, and is expected to grow to $100 billion by 2025.” This rise in the adoption of digital-first models has been stimulated by the pandemic as over 800 brands have joined the D2C club across the nation.

Through a ‘pitch day’ facilitated by Flipkart, the selected brands will also have the opportunity to secure potential funding from a network of leading venture capital funds and active investors in the D2C space, including A91 Partners, DSG Consumer Partners, Fireside Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India, and Stellaris Venture Partners. 

As per the company statement, "The program was successfully piloted with several brands earlier this year, seeing significant growth in quarterly revenue since inclusion in the program. These brands cover a diverse range of segments, including F&B, baby care, lifestyle, beauty, and home improvement." 

“As India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, our primary goal is to expand our offerings in line with evolving customer preferences; while ensuring empowerment of Indian MSMEs and partnering in the ‘Make in India’ mission. The onset of the pandemic and the resulting rise of direct-to-consumer brands have boosted the MSME sector in India. The growing popularity of digital-first brands driven by a focus on specific customer needs demonstrates immense market potential. With the Flipkart Boost Programme, we aim to build and nurture these growing customer-focused businesses by providing them relevant mentoring that covers access to a network of investors, market intelligence, scalability programs, and marketing engagements,” said Ravi Iyer, Senior Vice President, and Head, Corporate Development, Flipkart.