As India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) market continues to grow at nearly 20% annually, the second edition of the TiE Delhi-NCR D2C Summit concluded in the capital, bringing together more than 300 founders, investors, and ecosystem operators.
The one-day summit focused on decoding the structural shifts shaping India’s $100 billion-plus D2C opportunity. Discussions ranged from open commerce and omnichannel expansion to profitability, logistics innovation, and the changing behaviour of Indian consumers in a post-personalisation era.
Investor Lens on Capital and Discipline
The event opened with a keynote by brand expert Harish Bijoor, who set the tone for conversations around India’s evolving retail landscape. One of the key highlights was the investor perspective shared by Kannan Sitaram, Co-Founder and Partner at Fireside Ventures. He emphasised value creation, capital efficiency, disciplined scaling, and building long-term consumer brands instead of chasing short-term growth.
The summit also saw participation from leading investors including Yash Dholakia (Sauce VC), Addison Appu (ThinKuvate), Aditya Arora (FAAD Ventures), Abhishek Kakkar (IAN Group), Bhavika Nijhawan (Vitalis Capital), Ojasvi Babber (Amity Innovation Incubator), Shweta Tripathi (V3 Ventures), Amit Singhal (Fluid VC), and Rishabh Katiyar (InfoEdge Ventures). Conversations focused on early-stage capital, unit economics, and achieving brand–market fit.
Tech, Payments and Infrastructure in Focus
Ecosystem enablers played a strong role in this year’s discussions. Leaders from Cashfree Payments highlighted how intelligent checkout systems can improve conversions and prepaid adoption, especially in Tier II and III markets.
Speakers from Zoom discussed connected customer experiences as a differentiator for scaling brands, while representatives from Shopify, Cloud Ambassadors, and FarEye explained how automation and operational AI are helping D2C brands improve efficiency and profitability.
Infrastructure players such as Google, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), Skye Air Mobility, and Shadowfax discussed scalable distribution models. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was also spotlighted for its role in reshaping market access and economics for D2C brands.
Founders on Gen Z and Omnichannel Growth
Category founders including Siddharth Sharma (Days Ahead), Akriti Gupta (Loopie), Jatin Mahendru (Kleenest), Jatan Bawa (Perfora), and Rachit Jain (Bruno Milano) shared insights on how Gen Z consumers are reshaping expectations around authenticity, design, and retention.
Omnichannel strategies were discussed by leaders such as Neha Kant (Clovia) and Shyam Sundar (DeHaat), alongside entrepreneurs from Blue Tea, Gabit, and Kindlife.in. The focus remained on disciplined retail expansion, affordability, and tapping into Bharat-first markets.
Ankit Kumar, Founder and CEO of Skye Air Mobility, stressed that strong distribution systems and cost discipline are critical for long-term sustainability. He noted that brands must deeply understand their cost structures, as cost management is as important as marketing at scale.
Building Durable, Culture-First Brands
Upasana Sharma, Executive Director of TiE Delhi-NCR, said today’s founders operate in a fast-changing market where consumer expectations evolve quickly. She added that successful brands of the future will not just be digital-first but culture-first, operationally disciplined, and powered by technology.
The 2026 edition of the D2C Summit was supported by Cashfree Payments, Zoom, Masters’ Union, Cloud Ambassador, Base, and Skye Air Mobility.
With curated discussions and multi-stakeholder participation, the summit reinforced its position as a key platform for founders navigating India’s next decade of consumer innovation.
– By Shivani Solanki
