One of India’s leading accelerators, Huddle based in Delhi NCR has launched an exclusive Acceleration A program inviting early and growth stage consumer-focused startups in the country. The accelerator which has grown a rich portfolio of startups including the likes of Wellversed, Bold Care, Cell Propulsion, Trillbit, GoSocial (Hapramp), alongwith several more well-funded and reputed ventures in their field, has created a special offering to propel consumer led ventures in India.
The core objective of the program is to tackle common pain points suffered by early-stage consumer startups including a host of support which entails expansive distribution access, logistics enablement, marketing advisory, and financing, in addition to the ability to access the country-wide portfolio catering to the consumer sector.
Huddle has partnered with relevant industry leaders such as Pidge, Klub, One Impression, and Tugo to offer 360-degree support and speed to scale for ventures selected as part of the program. As a way of extending contextual support, Huddle has carved out a dedicated mentor panel of industry experts, namely: Gautham Mukkavilli (Ex India Bev, Ex-Pepsico), Vikas Bhatia (CFO, Varun Beverages Ltd – Only supporting CPG, Wellness and Personal Care verticals of the program), and Aman Arora (Co-founder, Keventers).
The Indian D2C ecosystem is estimated to hit a total addressable market of $100bn by the end of 2025. Over 600 D2C brands have been launched since 2016 out of which over a 100 of them have been VC-backed amounting to $1.6bn+ in cumulative VC funding.
“Our experience in accelerating ventures across emerging sectors has reinstilled the importance of a core ecosystem of support functions to ventures in order to enable them with speed, ease, and agility. With this program, we are proud of the multiple associations and learnings that have come together to back consumer ventures with the ideal financial, social and intellectual capital they would need to succeed. The goal is to build ventures that come together to serve India, across consumer needs, starting from their head to toe, be it a product or service,” Sanil Sachar, founding partner, Huddle.
The program is focused on new-age D2C startups, from unfunded ventures with limited traction to seed funded ventures, that are able to command a differentiated product or service or are challenger brands to existing traditional consumer sectors.
The focus areas of the program will include ventures in Food and Beverage – Both digitally native and traditional homegrown brands that have achieved early validation for their products, Consumer Packaged Goods – Applicable to early-stage ventures in the apparel, home-care, and furnishing space. Wellness Supplements – Early-stage ventures offering wellness related nutraceuticals for prevention, immunity, and other common treatable ailments. Personal Care – Applicable to beauty and personal care brands offering skincare, haircare, and body care products.
The selected startups will have access to a host of benefits as part of the program. Here’s a detailed overview:
- Fundraising: Access to seed capital ranging from Rs 75 Lacs with co-investment opportunities alongside reputed consumer focussed investors as well as subsequent fundraising support through Huddle and it’s institutional financial partners
- Working Capital Support: Dedicated support in acquiring financial support to cover short-term, recurring expenses such as inventory and day to day operational activities.
- Logistics Enablement: Dedicated last-mile logistics support from Pidge
- Marketing Advisory: Dedicated marketing optimization support through Tugo and One Impression as well as performance and growth marketing strategy.
- Distribution Access: Meticulous business development support with access to relevant distribution networks.
- Huddle Portfolio Support: Ability to leverage Huddle’s existing portfolio of companies as and when required.
The program is currently accepting applications until 31st March 2021. Applications can be submitted here: https://huddle.work/d2c
