Wipro Consumer Care intends to contribute Rs 100 crore to the expanding D2C startup scene.

Wipro Consumer Care intends to contribute Rs 100 crore to the expanding D2C startup scene.

In 2023, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting intends to invest at least 100 crores in D2C companies, particularly those in the food industry. “Up until now, we have yet to look at D2C companies, particularly in the food sector, but we are now more willing to do so. Chief Executive Officer Vineet Agrawal states, “We are witnessing several profitable businesses in this field, and we are contemplating investing in them.

According to Agrawal, Wipro Consumer Care will act as a strategic investor, assisting startups with market access, raw material procurement, financial management, and the development of research skills through its brand.

According to Agrawal, startups are incredibly knowledgeable about their products, skilled at marketing, and knowledgeable about eCommerce. “Acquiring startups is not our plan; it is not our immediate focus. We’d instead put money into them. He added that we still have about Rs 100 crore to invest out of our planned investment of up to Rs 200 crore. Agrawal said that, depending on the performance of prior investments, the Rs 100 crores might rise.

“We are willing to invest in food entrepreneurs, particularly snacking firms, as well as startups in personal care and hygiene. He continued that we won’t buy more than 25% of the firm and will only invest a total of Rs 25 crore in it.

Powergummies, the Ayurvedic business TAC, the men’s grooming company LetsShave, and Indonesia’s You’ve, which manufactures nutraceutical and health products, are a few companies in which the company has previously invested.

Wipro Consumer Care isn’t the first producer of packaged consumer products to fund D2C companies, to be sure.

For instance, Marico has bought the snack manufacturer True Elements, the male grooming business Beardo, and the cosmetics line JustHerbs. In addition to purchasing a minority investment in Wellbeing Nutrition worth $8.4 million, Hindustan Unilever has confirmed the purchase of D2C nutritional company Oziva for $32 million. The owner of Soulful is now Tata Consumer Products.

According to a top executive, TMRW, the house of brands initiative of the Aditya Birla Group, would spend Rs 500-600 crores in 10-12 D2C businesses by the middle of this year in an effort to grow to a $1 billion company.

As part of its expansion into the food industry, Wipro Consumer Care said on Monday that it had acquired Kerala-based spice maker Nirapara. Nirapara is our thirteenth purchase, giving us a strong position in the spice and ready-to-cook market. We are thrilled to join a sizable market that is anticipated to grow, added Agrawal.

Numerous opportunities

The investments are partly assisting companies in overcoming a financing winter brought on by geopolitical and global economic concerns preventing venture capital and private equity firms from making investments this year.

The D2C food industry, according to Agrawal of Wipro, has a sizable potential market. For instance, the organized sector only accounts for 12 percent of the Rs. 70,000 crore market for spices.

Even TMRW, a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, boasts that its eight new collaborations have helped it reach an annual scoring rate of over Rs 700 crores and that it is on course to get Rs 1,500 crore in the coming 12 months.

According to Shiprocket and the Federation of Indian Industry’s India D2C study in 2022, the country’s D2C industry is estimated to be worth $12 billion. The D2C sector is anticipated to reach $60 billion by 2027, and India is predicted to have the third-largest economy by 2039. According to the research, in just 3-5 years after its debut, D2C brands are breaking the Rs 100 crore revenue milestone.

The ecosystem’s many D2C enablers, from product development to logistics control and customer service, are assisting in lowering startup entry hurdles. Deal flow is still sluggish even though investors and FMCG businesses want to take a more significant piece of the D2C ecosystem.

Wipro Consumer Care’s Agrawal said, “While we are remaining cautious in this climate, we are urging teams to access transactions that make some sense and have the most significant route to profitability and development. Agrawal said that, depending on the performance of prior investments, the Rs 100 crores might rise.

Wipro Consumer Care isn’t the first producer of packaged consumer products to fund D2C companies, to be sure. For instance, Marico has bought the snack manufacturer True Elements, the male grooming business Beardo, and the cosmetics line JustHerbs. In addition to purchasing a minority investment in Wellness Nutrition for $8.4 million, Hindustan Unilever has confirmed the purchase of D2C nutrition company Oziva for $32 million. The owner of Soulfull is now Tata Consumer Products.

According to a top executive, TMRW, the house of brands initiative of the Aditya Birla Group, would spend Rs 500-600 crores in 10-12 D2C businesses by the middle of this year in an effort to grow to a $1 billion company.

As part of its expansion into the food industry, Wipro Consumer Care said on Monday that it had acquired Kerala-based spice maker Nirapara. Nirapara is our thirteenth purchase, giving us a strong position in the seasonings and ready-to-cook market. We are thrilled to join a sizable market that is anticipated to grow, added Agrawal.

According to Shiprocket and the Federation of Indian Industry’s India D2C study in 2022, the country’s D2C industry is estimated to be worth $12 billion. The D2C industry is anticipated to reach $60 billion by 2027, and India is predicted to have the third-largest economy by 2039.

According to the research, in just 3-5 years after its debut, D2C brands are breaking the Rs 100 crore revenue milestone. The ecosystem’s many D2C enablers, from product development to logistics control and customer service, are assisting in lowering startup entry hurdles. Deal flow is still sluggish even though investors and FMCG businesses want to take a more significant piece of the D2C ecosystem.

Edited by Prakriti Arora