Flipkart on Tuesday, September 7, announced a new programme ‘Flipkart Boost’ where shortlisted D2C brands will be given end-to-end support covering planning, advertising, cataloguing, logistics, quality control and mentoring for a service fee. These, Flipkart said, will be made-in-India brands with “high potential and strong innovation stories". Applications for brands to apply will begin this month.

The programme “will shortlist brands based on a clear set of pre-decided objective criteria, which covers their growth potential, sustainable revenue run rate, focus on quality, commitment to building a long-lasting brand, strong product mix and customer orientation,” Flipkart said.

In addition, the company also said that there will be a pitch day so that brands can have the opportunity to secure funding from venture capital funds and active investors. These include A91 Partners, DSG Consumer Partners, Fireside Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India and Stellaris Venture Partners.

The programme, Flipkart said, was piloted with several brands earlier this year, and these brands saw significant growth in quarterly revenue since inclusion in the programme. These brands cover segments including F&B, baby care, lifestyle, beauty and home improvement. 

Ravi Iyer, Senior Vice President and Head, Corporate Development, Flipkart, said, “The onset of the pandemic and the resulting rise of direct-to-consumer brands have boosted the MSME sector in India. The growing popularity of digital-first brands driven by a focus on specific customer needs demonstrates immense market potential. With the Flipkart Boost Programme, we aim to build and nurture these growing customer-focused businesses by providing them relevant mentoring that covers access to a network of investors, market intelligence, scalability programmes, and marketing engagements.”

Brands can apply directly on the Flipkart seller platform, out of which 100 brands will be chosen this year.