D2C Brand Candes Raises $3 Mn From Delhi-Based Family Offices

Direct to consumer (D2C) brand Candes today announced that it has raised $3 Mn from various family offices of Delhi. This round was led by Anuraag and Ruchirans Jaipuria along with Lotus group Joint MD, Nitin Passi and Redcliffe’s Dheeraj Jain. 

Delhi-based Candes was founded by brothers, Sandeep and Vipin Agarwal, who spent 10 years in the electrical goods manufacturing industry under their family flagship Vedanta Electricals. The company had previously raised an undisclosed amount from Dheeraj Jain in 2016, according to Crunchbase. 

Founded in 2015, Candes provides appliances at affordable prices. Candes is on a track to achieve INR 200 Cr revenue this year, said the company in a statement. 

It currently has INR 10 Cr worth of monthly sales with 90% online sales, claims the company. It manufactures products like fans, geysers, TV, stabilizers in its own manufacturing facilities and is in the final stage of launching a new product portfolio. 

“We believe every middle-class family across India, will either purchase for the first time or replace their old fans, TV, geysers and other kitchen appliances sooner or later. We witnessed this large market and that is what led us towards this marketplace.Our focus and priority is to use this funding for product R&D to deliver the best to our customers,” said the company in a statement

“We think new brands will capture consumer mindshare when it comes to affordable range and digital purchase. A brand that leads on all fronts including product quality, servicing, IoT, value for money, is Candes. The team is excellent and ambitious to build the Candes story to an IPO milestone in a few years time,” said Anuraag Jaipuria.

D2C Market In India

Since 2014, some of the notable segments in D2C that witnessed a spike in investments include fashion and cosmetics, home decor, consumer electronics, and FMCG among others. Inc42 Plus stated that fashion brands secured the maximum funding, accounting for almost $876.2 Mn in funding between 2014 and Q3 2020. The D2C fashion brands include Fablestreet, Clovia, Bewakoof, Lenskart and Bombay Shirt Company among others.

One of the core reasons for investors’ affinity towards the D2C category clearly points at the fragmented nature of the consumer base, giving room to both small, niche, and large players to exist. And as the market expands, the ceiling for ecommerce enablers is only going to rise.

However, the pandemic had a negative impact on the overall sector in terms of investments. In D2C startups, investments declined by 69% (data available till Q3 2020) compared to the previous year, with total funding of $117.6 Mn through 30 deals, according to Inc42 Plus findings.