Flipkart launches D2C initiative ‘Flipkart Boost’ in partnership with a network of leading investors

Flipkart launches D2C initiative ‘Flipkart Boost’ in partnership with a network of leading investors

●                                                                     Applications begin September 2021, to identify digital-first ‘Made in India’ D2C brands with high potential and strong innovation stories

●                                            Shortlisted brands will be given end-to-end support covering planning, advertising, cataloguing, logistics, quality control and mentoring

Chennai - September 7, 2021: Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, today announced the launch of ‘Flipkart Boost’, an integrated programme for new age digital-first consumer brands to move into the next phase of growth. Through a service fee model, Flipkart Boost will provide emerging Made in India brands end-to-end support covering planning, advertising, cataloguing, logistics, quality control and mentoring.

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. 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. The programme 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.

Selected brands will be able to leverage Flipkart’s expertise across functions using value-driven business insights, expand digital visibility, and penetrate various geographies with the ideal solutions to strengthen their presence and create measurable impact among customers. The Flipkart Boost program will enable growth opportunities for these brands through insights into their performance and customer traction.

Speaking about the launch, Ravi Iyer, Senior Vice President and Head, Corporate Development, Flipkart, said, “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 programmes, and marketing engagements.”

The Flipkart Boost Program reinforces Flipkart’s mission to offer growth opportunities to budding D2C brands and offers a platform to power the next phase of growth in their business through a

meaningful and insight-led partnership. Based on certain criteria, brands can apply directly on the Flipkart seller platform, of which 100 brands will be chosen for the programme this year.

Over the past 18 months, over 800 D2C brands have leveraged the power of digital to build their presence and cater to evolving customer preferences. The pandemic has accelerated the uptake for D2C brands, with an almost 88% rise in demand over 2019. The D2C sector in India is currently worth $44.6 billion (end of FY 2021) and is expected to be worth $100 billion by 2025, as per a report by Avendus Capital in October 2020.

Flipkart’s approach to unlocking ecosystem potential

~ Flipkart consistently works towards unlocking ecosystem potential and nurturing new ideas that bring innovation, curiosity and unconventionality to the local entrepreneurial landscape
~ During most of the past decade, Flipkart has been an active investor in the ecosystem and has a current portfolio of minority investments in more than 12 companies
~ Flipkart Leap is an accelerator program dedicated to help new and upcoming startups grow, scale, navigate challenges and in turn contribute to India’s  growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and boosting ‘Start-Up India’
~ Flipkart Ventures financially enables digital startups to bring their brilliant ideas to fruition.
~ Both Leap and Ventures initiatives complement each other and add impetus to the shared purpose of boosting innovative technologies

About Flipkart
 

The Flipkart Group is one of India's leading digital commerce entities and includes group companies Flipkart, Myntra, Flipkart Wholesale, and Cleartrip. The Group is also a majority shareholder in PhonePe, one of the leading payments apps in India.

Started in 2007, Flipkart has enabled millions of consumers, sellers, merchants, and small businesses to be a part of India's digital commerce revolution, with a registered customer base of more than 350 million, offering over 150 million products across 80+ categories. Our efforts to democratize commerce in India, drive access and affordability, delight customers, create lakhs of jobs in the ecosystem, and empower generations of entrepreneurs and MSMEs have inspired us to innovate on many industry firsts. Flipkart is known for pioneering services such as Cash on Delivery, No Cost EMI and easy returns – customer-centric innovations have made online shopping more accessible and affordable for millions of Indians. Together with its group companies, Flipkart is committed to transforming commerce in India through technology.

For more information, please write to media@flipkart.com