Kriti, Bhumi, Rashmika join celeb D2C wave; Zoho pumps Rs 70 Cr into ONDC
Indian celebrities are stacking the D2C shelf with Hyphen (skincare), The Tribe (fitness), Maya (fragrance) and Dear Diary, while Zoho's Rs 70 Cr bet on ONDC signals deeper sovereign-stack backing for MSME digitisation and open commerce rails.
Indian celebrities including Kriti Sanon, Bhumi Pednekar and Rashmika Mandanna are launching D2C brands spanning skincare, fitness, fragrance and AI media. Separately, Zoho invested Rs 70 crore in ONDC to support sovereign technology and MSME digitisation.
Why this matters
Celebrity-founded D2C brands continue to crowd beauty, fitness and fragrance categories, while Zoho's ONDC cheque signals that Indian SaaS incumbents now view open commerce as core infra, not side bet.
Retail-brand signals steady at 79 in the last 90 days, showing sustained D2C launch cadence.