What India’s D2C founders want investors to know

For years, the Indian startup playbook followed a familiar arc: raise fast, grow faster, and build towards an acquisition or IPO. But speak to the founders behind India's fastest-scaling consumer brands today, and a different story emerges, one in which profitability, not valuation, has become the real flex, and where independence is no longer a romantic ideal but a calculated business decision.

“Independence isn't ideology, it's math” echoes

Siddharth Dungarwal, Founder & CEO of menswear brand Snitch, framed it as a matter of freedom and control. "Staying independent gives founders the freedom to build with a long-term vision instead of optimizing for short-term outcomes. It allows faster decision-making, greater control over the brand, and the ability to stay close to the customer." But he's quick to attach a condition, this only works "if the business has a strong growth engine, healthy unit economics, and a clear roadmap to profitability."

Saurabh Munjal, Co-Founder & CEO of Lahori Zeera, goes a step further, describing a generational shift in founder mindset. "A few years ago, building to get acquired was seen as the natural progression. Today, more founders are asking a different question: Can I build an institution instead of just a successful company?" But he refuses to let this slide into philosophy without proof. "Independence is sustainable, but only if it is backed by execution and financial discipline. It's not a philosophy, it's a business model."

Sujata and Taniya Biswas, the sister-founders behind SuTa, added nuance to what independence even means. For them, it was never about rejecting outside capital. "Independence has never been about avoiding acquisitions or external partnerships. It is about having the freedom to make long-term decisions that strengthen the brand, our customers and the artisan ecosystem we've built over the years." Their caveat is almost a warning to founders romanticizing the bootstrapped route. "Independence is sustainable only when it is supported by strong business fundamentals, it cannot be sustained by conviction alone."

Pranav and Karan Korke, the founders behind The Healthy Binge, a millet-snacking brand that broke out on Shark Tank India, ground the same argument in product trust. "In food, trust is earned over years through product quality and consistency, and those decisions often require patience. Independence allows us to innovate at our own pace, stay close to our consumers, and protect the values the brand was built on."

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But what happens when investors ask harder questions

If there's a single fact every founder in this agrees on, it's this: the funding tap hasn't just slowed down, it's gotten smarter.

"The funding environment has made founders more disciplined about building fundamentally strong businesses. Growth today has to be backed by sustainable economics, not just capital." As a result, founders are prioritizing operational efficiency and profitability over aggressive fundraising," Dungarwal put it plainly.

Munjal sees the shift as a net positive for the ecosystem. "The funding environment has become much healthier. Capital is no longer rewarding growth at any cost; it's rewarding resilient businesses," he said. For him, the real advantage now belongs to founders who aren't cornered into a decision. "The best businesses today are the ones that have the ability to choose, rather than being forced into a decision because they have run out of options."

The Biswas sisters described the same discipline showing up in their own operating playbook, not just their fundraising stance. SuTa, they reveal, is "currently valued at approximately ₹400 crore," a number built on unglamorous fundamentals. "Improving our product mix, increasing the contribution of high-margin categories, enhancing gross margins through strategic sourcing, vendor consolidation and procurement optimisation." They're projecting 40-50% year-on-year growth, but insist it won't come from a single funding-fuelled push, rather from "multiple growth engines," from EBO expansion to international exhibitions.

The Korke brothers frame the shift in almost values-first language: founders today are "evaluating capital based on whether it accelerates their long-term vision rather than simply extending runway. That shift is ultimately creating healthier businesses."

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So when the cheque lands on the table, what moves the needle?

Dungarwal insists it's rarely just about the number, "The decision goes beyond valuation. Founders look at strategic alignment, cultural fit, and whether the partnership will accelerate the brand's vision without compromising what makes it unique."

Munjal agreed, framing the real test as one of scale, not price. "An acquisition conversation is rarely just about valuation. The real question founders ask is, Can this partnership help us create something materially bigger than what we could build on our own?" His closing line on the subject doubles as a founder's creed: "The best founders don't optimise for the quickest exit; they optimise for the biggest outcome."

The Biswas sisters run through an entire checklist before even entertaining a ‘yes’. “Does a deal strengthen our long-term vision, preserve the authenticity and quality our customers expect, create greater opportunities for artisans, and support sustainable, profitable growth rather than growth at any cost?" Their conclusion reframed the entire independence-versus-acquisition binary. "The conversation has never been about independence versus investment. It's about finding partners who believe that purpose and profitability can scale together."

The dissenting voice: When independence isn't a choice

Not every founder in India's consumer boom has the luxury of choosing. A founder of an Indian makeup brand offers the most contrarian and arguably most sobering take.

"The trend is accelerating, but mostly for profitable brands or brands that fill a gap. I personally believe that it is better to sell if the buyer is interested. It is very difficult to sustain independently in the current environment," the founder said, pointing to the structural reality behind venture-funded startups: "Venture funded startups need to provide an exit for the investors in 5-7 years. In today's environment, exit options are limited to Acquisition/IPO. Both are mostly available to profitable companies, therefore now VC's have become selective."

Perhaps the most striking insight here isn't about whether to sell, but how. "In my opinion, the structure of the deal matters more than the valuation." The founder cited fast, high-percentage buyouts as the preferred structure for founders ready to exit. "If the founders are not interested to work anymore, they would accept the structure where the full 100% acquisition happens faster."

And in a line that should unsettle anyone tracking India's beauty unicorns, he said, "Some brands in the beauty space which are doing roughly 500cr, and profitable but are not able to exit because they are cutting corners to stay profitable." Profitability, in other words, isn't always what it looks like on paper and it doesn't guarantee a buyer's interest either.

Read On: India’s beauty boom moves beyond the D2C playbook

Where values get tested not talked about

Every founder claims to protect their values. The real test, as Lahori Zeera's Munjal pointed out, is what happens when values get expensive: "Every founder says values matter. The real question is whether those values survive when they're expensive."

His example is concrete: the West Asia conflict triggered supply chain volatility and rising input costs. "We had a choice: protect our margins by immediately passing those costs down the value chain or stay true to the principles on which we've built the business. We chose the latter." The brand absorbed the hit rather than pass it to distributors, and refused to alter its formulation. His conclusion is a line worth remembering in any founder conversation about scaling. "Trust compounds much faster than margins.”

Dungarwal's version of the same dilemma is about tempo, not crisis. "The biggest challenge is maintaining speed without compromising the customer experience. As you scale, it's easy to chase volume, but we've always believed growth should never come at the cost of product quality, design, or brand identity."

Biswas sisters sum up their approach as building infrastructure rather than compromising: “For us, the objective has never been simply to become a bigger company, it has always been to become a stronger one."

Five founders, five categories, one common thread: the old growth-at-any-cost script no longer impresses anyone! Not investors, not acquirers, and increasingly, not founders themselves. Whether that's sustainable for everyone remains an open question, as the anonymous beauty founder's warning makes clear, not every profitable brand gets to choose.

But for now, at least, India's consumer brand founders are following a very different recipe from the one venture capital handed them a decade ago.