IT'S ABOUT GETTING INTO THE RIGHT ECOSYSTEM

Not many could have imagined there is much innovation and R&D involved for a 13th century snack – the samosa – which most Indians love to munch on. Two years into the business, Samosa Singh, a Bengaluru- based startup, has changed the way the city consumes the evening snack. With less oil-absorbing methods and experiments with unique fillings, the firm is targeting to sell 50,000 samosas a day and expand in two other cities, while they function from Bengaluru and operate in Hyderabad and Pune. “This is exactly why it’s a  great time to build new-age consumer brands as the whole ecosystem is coming together,” says Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner, Fireside Ventures. The early-stage consumer- focused venture fund has invested in some rather popular brands like Yoga Bar, MamaEarth, among others, and is focusing on building 25 more in the next 15 years.

 

Explaining why this is an exciting time to build new-age brands, Singh says, “The consumer segment is big and growing, but there is less innovation by large companies. However, there are huge opportunities for disruption and the disruption capability of a brand is driving the change.” He further said that the millennial shopper was looking for authenticity, clean labels, and ethical sourcing and production from their products while millennials don’t mind spending on brands which cater to their personal preferences. “The rise of young brands can be attributed to the growing modern retail infrastructure and the emergence of the digital growth,” he said.

 

AN INTEGRATED ECOSYSTEM

Singh opines that modern trade has become relatively easy and the ecosystem is now coming together. He says that digital commerce growth has lowered the costs for a brand to reach more potential consumers. “As a result of growth in digital commerce, there have been distribution channels and thanks to the advent of social media, consumers can easily identify new brands and it is less expensive for a brand to reach more customers. Also, new business models like

direct-to-consumer and subscription models are now appealing to consumers. Other trends like modern retailers who are open to display new brands have also helped the ecosystem come together,” he says.

 

Further explaining how the ecosystem is beneficial for a neaage brand, V S Kannan Sitaram, former COO, Dabur India, says as soon as the word ecosystem is used, we must understand the various perspectives it holds. “Starting from raising

funds for a brand to other challenges like scaling up, how to meet the challenges once you have scaled up, how to expand and how to reach a larger audience – there are so many issues to focus on for a brand and the ecosystem encompasses it all,” he says.

 

TECHNOLOGY AS ENABLER

Vinay Singh, founder and former CEO of Stepni.com (now acquired by Quikr), says a support ecosystem including technology is required for consumer brands to scale up. “The core parameter will be if there is a consumer need in a particular space and a brand has the strategy to execute it in the right way, and leveraging technology to help and build the brand is always easier,” he says. He says that rise of e-commerce has helped many companies and reaching customers is now easy as online retail does not need master distributors and does not even have barriers like listing fees and limited shelf space.