Indian direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies raised about $6 billion in equity funding across 2,000 rounds between 2021 and 2026 (year to date), Tracxn said on Wednesday.

According to its report, annual funding peaked at $1.6 billion in 2022, stood at $824 million in 2024, and returned to growth in 2025 at $898 million, up 9 percent year on year.

Deal activity held steady through this period: every full year in the window recorded between 307 and 380 rounds, with 2024 recording the highest round count of the window even as funding value reached its full-year low.

“The capital moved, the deal-making did not, round counts held steady across the window even as total funding value nearly halved between 2022 and 2024, before recovering in 2025,” said Tracxn.

Meanwhile, seed activity accounted for the largest share of deal volume throughout the window, making up 70 percent to 77 percent of all rounds every year, and 2025 seed funding of $190 million was the highest of the window.

Early-stage funding rose 66 percent from $264 million in 2023 to $437 million in 2025, with the 2025 round count of 72 returning to its 2021 level.

Late-stage funding followed a different path: funding moderated from $883M across 22 rounds in 2022 to $271 million across 15 rounds in 2025, a 69 percent decline in value even as the round count returned to its 2021 level of 15.

The top five active funded companies have raised a combined $2.3 billion across their lifetimes. The group spans four consumption categories – eyewear, meat and seafood, jewellery, and dairy, and the full ownership arc: Lenskart and BlueStone are listed, while Licious, FreshToHome, and Country Delight remain private at Series G, Series D, and Series E respectively.

Each company was founded between 2008 and 2015, giving the companies a decade or more of operating history.

Capital continues to reach these companies: FreshToHome closed a $15 million round in January 2026 and Country Delight a $7 million round in May 2026.

Licious has stated that it intends to reach profitability before listing, with an initial public offering (IPO) planned for 2027–28.

The India D2C universe recorded 15 IPOs between 2021 and 2026 (year to date). Among these, five span the full range of company scale and backing.

Lenskart listed on November 10, 2025 backed by dozens of institutional investors, including SoftBank Vision Fund, Temasek, KKR, and ADIA, after raising $981M privately, the largest funding base of any company in this report.

BlueStone listed on August 19, 2025 after raising $255 million, and Wakefit listed on December 15, 2025 after raising $105 million across multiple institutional investors.

Honasa Consumer, the parent of Mamaearth, listed on November 7, 2023 after raising $126 million, one of the earliest and most closely watched D2C listings in India.

Credo Brands, which owns the menswear brand Mufti and has operated since 1998, listed on 27 December 2023 without ever raising institutional funding.

The India D2C universe recorded 105 acquisitions between 2021 and 2026 (year to date). Among these, five span some of the largest and most closely watched deals in the category.

Hindustan Unilever acquired skincare brand Minimalist for $350 million on January 22, 2025, the largest disclosed transaction among the five.

Wipro Consumer Care acquired Dermatouch for a disclosed $41 million on August 18, 2026, and USV India acquired Wellbeing Nutrition for a disclosed $175 million on February 12, 2026.

Two earlier deals round out the group: Aditya Birla Group’s TMRW acquired fashion brand Bewakoof in November 2022, and Reliance Retail acquired intimatewear brand Clovia in March 2022, at an undisclosed amount.

The report also highlighted that household consumption in India reached approximately $2.4 trillion in 2024, and India is projected to become the world’s third-largest consumer market by 2026.

Consumer spending in the country is projected to reach $4.3 trillion by 2030, and the consumer base is among the world’s youngest: the average Indian consumer is 30 years old, and India is projected to be home to 357 million consumers under the age of 30 by 2030.

It is noted that D2C companies build their own consumer brands and sell primarily through digital-first channels that they own.

In India, this model has scaled alongside a rapid shift to digital payments: real-time digital transactions rose from 7,177 crore in FY 2021–22 to 22,168 crore in FY 2024–25, a 209 percent increase over four years, lowering the cost of reaching consumers directly without depending on traditional retail distribution.

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