We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. It starts with eChai Startup Demo Day on 26 September, all in person. 11 cities confirmed, 151 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city
Scale, fund & exit

Funding a D2C brand

VC, revenue-based finance, venture debt, or none.

Level All Beginner Intermediate Advanced
Market All India Global
Who's asking Everyone Aspiring Brand Builder Maker / Artisan Trader Going Own-Brand Just-Launched Founder Marketplace Seller Scaling Brand Bootstrapped Side-Hustler Product Person
Should I bootstrap my D2C brand or raise VC money? Bootstrap as long as you can fund inventory and ads from your own margin - every round you skip is equity you keep and discipline you're forced to ... Beginner 4 resources → What is revenue-based financing and how does it work for D2C brands in India? RBF platforms like Klub, GetVantage and Velocity give you upfront capital against future revenue, and you repay a fixed percentage of monthly sales... Intermediate 4 resources → What's venture debt, and when should I take it instead of - or alongside - equity? Venture debt is a loan from specialist lenders (Stride Ventures, Alteria, InnoVen) that extends your runway between equity rounds, usually taken ri... Advanced 3 resources → How do I finance inventory without giving up equity? Inventory financing, purchase-order financing and RBF are the three non-dilutive routes - lenders advance cash against stock or confirmed orders an... Intermediate 3 resources → Klub, GetVantage or Velocity - which RBF platform is actually right for my brand? All three do the same core thing - non-dilutive capital repaid as a share of revenue - but they differ on minimum revenue history, ticket size and ... Intermediate 4 resources → What funding options exist if I don't want to raise VC money at all? You have more room than founders think: reinvested revenue and tight working-capital discipline first, then non-dilutive debt - bank/NBFC working c... Beginner 4 resources →

Related in Starting Up

Every founder hits these, so they sit in the wider founder hub.

Co-founder dynamics, equity splits and conflict
Finding a co-founder → Co-founder agreements & equity →
eChai Partner Brands