India’s direct-to-consumer companies raise $6 billion in equity funding in 5 years

New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS) India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies raised $6 billion in equity funding across nearly 2,000 rounds between 2021 and 2026 (year-to-date), a report showed on Wednesday.

Annual funding peaked at $1.6 billion in 2022, moderated to $824 million by 2024, and returned to growth in 2025 at $898 million, up 9 per cent year on year, according to the report Tracxn, a market intelligence platform.

“What stayed constant throughout was deal-making pace: every full year in the window recorded between 307 and 380 rounds, with 2024 posting the window’s highest round count in the very year funding value hit its lowest point,’ said the report.

The 2025 recovery was a bottom-up event. Seed and early-stage capital accounted for 70 per cent of 2025’s funding value, up from 38 per cent in 2021, and early-stage funding alone rose 66 per cent from its 2023 trough.

Late-stage funding moved in the opposite direction, down 69 per cent in value between 2022 and 2025, even as its round count returned to the 2021 level of 15. Capital, in other words, is reaching a broader base of companies at earlier stages than it was five years ago, said the report.

In India, 15 D2C IPOs were recorded between 2021 and 2026 YTD. In India, 105 D2C acquisitions were recorded between 2021 and 2026 YTD, said the report.

Five companies anchor India’s D2C funding leaderboard — Lenskart, Licious, FreshToHome, BlueStone, and Country Delight — together holding $2.3 billion raised across their lifetimes.

The group spans four consumption categories – eyewear, meat & seafood, jewellery, and dairy, and every company has a decade or more of operating history. Capital is still reaching the group: FreshToHome closed a $15 million round in January 2026 and Country Delight a $7 million round in May 2026.

–IANS

na/