Startup-community platform D2C Insider floats consumer

D2C Insider, which runs a community for direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup founders and leaders, has launched an early-stage venture capital fund focussed on digitally native consumer brands and with a target corpus of Rs 150 crore ($15.8 million).

The fund ConsumerX Ventures will invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across consumer categories, targeting founders building brands for emerging consumption trends. VCCircle had reported earlier that the platform had received a go-ahead from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch this fund.

The company said that the fund plans to build a portfolio of 20-25 startups and reserve capital for follow-on investments through Series A rounds.

D2C Insider is a community of founders, operators and startup executives. The firm said it will leverage D2C Insider’s network of more than 30,000 founders, operators, investors and ecosystem partners for deal sourcing, due diligence and founder support.

“ConsumerX Ventures has been built to address a clear gap in the ecosystem, the lack of dedicated and institutional support for founders of consumer startups at the earliest stages,” said Abhishek Shah, managing partner at ConsumerX Ventures.

“By launching ConsumerX Ventures, we are extending the D2C Insider community’s decade long work with business leaders into a long term and structured platform designed to back the most promising consumer brands from day one," Shah added.

Chhavi Bhardwaj, general partner at ConsumerX Ventures, said, “India’s consumption story is being reshaped by Gen Z, Bharat and digitally native behaviours. ConsumerX Ventures is focussed on identifying and supporting founders who are building for these shifts.”