Fintech
Travel Tech
Electric Vehicle
Health Tech
Edtech
IT
Logistics
Retail
Ecommerce
Startup Ecosystem
Enterprise Tech
Clean Tech
Consumer Internet
Agritech
Meet India’s 42 Fastest-Growing D2C Brands
India’s D2C landscape has transformed dramatically in the last few years, with digital-first brands becoming more efficient in scaling, expanding product lines and locking horns with established industry giants.
We, at Inc42, have kept a close eye on this renaissance, empathetically understanding how many of these D2C brands patiently navigated through thick and thin and emerged triumphant. But, as we observed the journey of hordes and hordes of D2C brands through the years, one thing became clear — there is something that sets some brands apart from the rest.
This realisation metamorphosed into FAST42, Inc42’s earnest attempt at identifying the fastest-growing D2C brands in the country. This vision was seen nearly half a decade ago, and today we stand to present the fourth edition of FAST42 — the definitive ranking of India’s fastest-growing D2C brands.
After three months of rigorous groundwork and screening through more than 250 applications from across the country and various D2C sub-segments, we have handpicked D2C brands shaping the future of India’s thriving $300 Bn+ digital-first consumer market.
Be it House Of EM5, enchanting Indians with its affordable perfume range, or What’s Up Wellness, simplifying nutrition with gummies for modern-day lifestyle, or even MyMuse, which is normalising conversations around sexual health, the list features 42 brands that garnered a consolidated revenue of INR 1,300 Cr in FY24 and generated over 4,000 jobs.
Besides, the top five brands in this year’s FAST42 list boast a compounded annual growth rate ranging from 239% to an impressive 665%.
Launched at a closed-door event in Gurugram yesterday, this year’s FAST42 list was unveiled by DPIIT joint secretary Shri Sanjiv, Info Edge’s Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Aman Gupta of boAt.
With that said, here’s the FAST42 2025 Ranking — the coveted list of India’s 42 fastest-growing D2C brands. Continue reading…
From The Editor’s Desk
Swiggy Apes Hyperpure: The Sriharsha Majety-led company has launched ‘Assure’ to deliver kitchen supplies to restaurants. The new platform, being piloted since September 2024, will compete with rival Zomato’s B2B supply vertical Hyperpure.
Zeno Health In Q-Commerce Lane: Days after raising $25 Mn, the healthtech startup has rolled out a 50-minute medicine delivery service in Mumbai. Zeno Health will leverage its 180+ pharmacy stores across Maharashtra to deliver medicines in under an hour.
Venturi Partners Floats $225 Mn Fund: The Livspace-backer has launched its second fund to back consumer brands in India and Southeast Asia. The VC firm is eyeing the first close of the fund at $130 Mn by June this year and plans to invest $15 Mn to $40 Mn each in 10 startups.
WLDD’s Acquisition Spree: A month after buying ScoopWhoop from The Good Glamm Group, WLDD has bought more than 70% stake in the sneaker brand, 7-10, in an all-cash deal. 7-10 claims to be a 100% homegrown sneaker brand for men and women.
Icertis Eyes $50 Mn: The SaaS unicorn is looking to raise around INR 431.8 Cr in an equity round, which will see participation from five undisclosed investors. Founded in 2009, Icertis provides contract management services to enterprises.
Supertails To Acquire Blue 7 Vets: The Bengaluru-based pet care startup is in talks to buy the multispeciality veterinary clinic, Blue 7 Vets, to enter the Mumbai pet care market and boost its offline healthcare services.
Windfall For Digital Payment Platforms? The Union Cabinet has cleared a scheme, with an outlay of INR 1,500 Cr, to incentivise low-value BHIM-UPI transactions to encourage usage among small merchants. The scheme will cover transactions processed in FY25.
Shikhar Dhawan To Float $75 Mn Fund: Yashaa Global Capital, a sports-focussed VC fund cofounded by the cricketer, has received permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market to establish its first fund. The firm claims to have already secured commitments for the first close.
Inc42 Startup Spotlight
Can TWO AI Become The GPT Of The East?
When GenAI kicked off a stir online in 2022, computer scientist Pranav Mistry quickly recognised that it was time for India to have its very own foundational models, including interface and reasoning models. To realise this dream, he founded TWO AI that same year.
Headquartered in the US, the B2B2C startup has built foundational models with multilingual capabilities for 50 global languages, including all the official Indian languages as well as foreign languages such as Japanese, Korean, and Turkish.
Backed by Jio Platforms and South Korean internet giant Naver, TWO AI claims to have around 20 paying customers globally, with seven in India. It serves enterprises across segments like education, banking and finance, retail, and defence.
With a team of 40 employees, comprising engineers, designers, and innovators from Oxford, MIT, IIT Bombay, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and NASA, TWO AI is confident of ending FY25 as an operationally profitable company.
