Are Indian D2C brands being built to sell, or are founders building them to last?
In Episode 15 of eCommerce, Clearly, we look at one of the most interesting shifts happening in India's D2C and consumer ecosystem: the growing wave of acquisitions and strategic investments by large FMCG, consumer and retail companies.
From HUL acquiring Minimalist, Marico investing in Cosmix and building its digital-first portfolio, USV acquiring Wellbeing Nutrition, ITC investing in new-age consumer brands, to Wipro Consumer Care acquiring 60% of Dermatouch, the pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
But what are these companies actually buying?
Is it the product?
The revenue?
The distribution?
The brand?
The consumer?
The innovation?
Or, perhaps most importantly, consumer relevance and speed?
Large FMCG companies already have capital, manufacturing, distribution and scale. New-age D2C brands, meanwhile, are often closer to younger consumers, faster at experimenting and better positioned to identify emerging categories and changing consumer preferences. Recent data shows that acquired digital-first brands generated more than ₹2,000 crore in combined revenue in FY26, highlighting how strategically important these businesses are becoming to their larger parent companies.
But this raises a much bigger question for founders:
Are we building D2C brands because we genuinely want to build them for the next 20–30 years? Or are we, consciously or unconsciously, building businesses that we hope will eventually become attractive acquisition targets?
In this episode, we unpack the economics, strategy and psychology behind D2C acquisitions in India — and the very different meanings of building to sell vs. building to last.
Because an acquisition isn't necessarily an ending. It can mean financial freedom, a new chapter for the founder, or access to the capital and distribution needed to take a brand much further.
But what happens when the exit itself becomes the definition of success?
What are founders actually building for?
Keywords:
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