Deepak's Musings #147: Game Changers 2024 The Value Creation Playbook & launch of Insurgex

📊 Game Changers 2024: The Value Creation Playbook & launch of Insurgex

In 2023, DSG Consumer Partners and Bain & Company launched Game Changers 2023: The Insurgent Consumer Brands Playbook (link here).

Last week, we launched Game Changers 2024: The Value Creation Playbook. In this new webinar, Navneet Chahal, a partner with Bain’s Consumer Products, Retail, and Customer practices, and Hariharan Premkumar, MD at DSG Consumer Partners, launch Insurgex, an index celebrating capital-efficient insurgent consumer brands. In this inaugural report, 18 insurgent brands made it to Insurgex.

Hari and Navneet also discuss lessons on the mode of exits and drivers of founder value for insurgent brands. They also zoom in on emerging consumer megatrends in the Food and Beverages industry that the insurgents can tap into to drive strong growth.

🏅 Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2024 List features three from the DSGCP community

Three amazing DSG Consumer Partners community women wselected to the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2024 List. Take a bow 🙇‍♀️. Each plays a role in building the next generation of leading consumer brands in India and Southeast Asia.

Pooja Shirali, DSG Consumer Partners
Vanshika Kaji, KNYA
Maya Kale, Moom

Click here for the complete list.

👩🏼‍🦱 DSGCP announces its investment in Fix My Curls

The first of two deals we announced in May.

We are proud to welcome founder Anshita Mehrotra to the DSGCP community. After quitting her journalism midway, she started Fix My Curls to create a space for the Indian curly hair market, which had been unattended for many years, along with a dedicated range of products.

🤸‍♀️ DSGCP announces its investment in Aire

This is the second deal announcement in May,

DSG Consumer Partners is excited to announce our partnership with Aire, a senior-focused consumer brand founded by Nivedita Venkateish. Aire's mission is to redefine perceptions of ageing and incontinence, launching its debut product line of adult pull-up pants in Singapore in mid-2023.

Aire recently showcased its products at the World Ageing Festival 2024, highlighting its dedication to innovation and improving the lives of seniors. As Southeast Asia faces a rapidly growing ageing population, we recognize the pressing challenges and opportunities in the Silver Economy. We believe Aire will transform the ageing experience, offering comfort and security to millions of older adults in the region.

🏖️ Kapil Chopra: Innovation in hospitality and the changing Indian consumer

We have not one but two long-form interviews with Kapil Chopra, the founder of luxury hotel brand Postcard Hotels and restaurant reservation and payment platform Eazydiner, a DSGCP portfolio company. Kapil was formerly the President of India’s Oberoi Hotel Group and knows a thing or two about hospitality.

The first is a video with Shantanu Deshpande of The Barbershop, and the second is an audio podcast on The Ken’s First Principles.

Both are fun, with so many lessons embedded in the conversations.

🏆 Business Worlds India’s Top D2C Brands 2024 List

Technically, most brands on the list are not D2C, so view them as insurgent brands across all channels. Congratulations to all 60 companies, including five DSG Consumer Partner portfolio companies: Farmley, Koparo, Good Glamm Group, XYXX, and Power Gummies.

🤝🏼 Venturi Partners to raise AIF to invest in Indian consumer growth-stage companies

Venturi Partners is considering raising a $75-100 million fund in India. The fund, likely to be launched later this year, will be pooled from top family offices in India. The intention is to give access to Indian families that want to be part of this platform and get access to growth-stage consumer companies because most funds in India invest mainly in]early-stage companies.

We are just at the start of what I believe will be a decade-long, or more, opportunity to build insurgent brands. It is heartening to see dedicated funds looking to back these insurgent brands at the growth stage

🛒 Sauce VC raising Fund III

Over the last few years, Sauce VC has built a reputation for identifying and working with insurgent brand founders in India. DSG Consumer Partners has co-invested with Sauce in pet startup Supertails and XYXX. As mentioned above, we are just at the start of what I believe will be a decade-long, or more, opportunity to build insurgent brands. We need a larger and stronger consumer brand ecosystem, including investors, to build for the future.

🐝 How did Pepsico make Sting the energy drink of India?

Indians collectively consumed over 570 million litres of energy drinks in 2023, up 30X from 2018. And among energy drinks, Sting has become the most preferred choice.

🍺 AB InBev India brand set for UK launch

Great to see Indian brands exporting and where better for an Indian beer brand than the UK.

💪🏼 Podcast: What’s new in consumer wellness trends?

This 25-minute podcast is worth listening to for anyone interested in consumer wellness.

📰 Select funding & deal news

Funding and deal news that caught my attention this week