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Do you remember the first smartphone you bought around 2012? Chances are, you spent more time choosing the phone than thinking about its case. Phone cases were largely an afterthought, sold by local stores and small sellers in an unorganised market dominated by inexpensive, China-sourced products and copies of established brands. That began to change as smartphone adoption accelerated. Indians were increasingly willing to spend ₹20,000, ₹30,000, ₹40,000 and even ₹50,000 on their phones. As these phones became more central to everyday life, consumers began looking beyond basic protection, even demanding accessories that reflected their personal style — an opportunity DailyObjects tapped into early on. Founded by Pankaj Garg, in 2012, as a multi-category online business, the company narrowed its focus to smartphone cases in 2014. Over time, it expanded into bags, charging products and workspace accessories, building its brand around design and quality. Today, DailyObjects revenue crossed ₹200 Cr in FY26, nearly doubling year-on-year. It is targeting ₹400 Cr in FY27 while working towards EBITDA profitability. But the more interesting part of DailyObjects’ story is not just how quickly it is growing today. It is how long it took to build a brand in a category that many consumers once barely thought about. Making Phone Cases More Than A Commodity DailyObjects had started as a multi-category online business, but by 2014, it decided to focus on smartphone cases. Rather than spread its resources across different product lines, the startup chose to focus on one category, differentiate through design and quality, and build a customer base willing to pay a premium. The category offered an opportunity to build a design-led brand in a market crowded with inexpensive, unbranded products. Consumers could walk into almost any mobile shop and find a case, while copies of products from established international brands were also widely available. DailyObjects’ answer was to make the product itself more distinctive. The startup began offering designer cases and collaborating with artists, bringing design into a category largely treated as a commodity. But differentiation was not limited to aesthetics. DailyObjects also wanted its products to compete with global brands on quality and materials. But building a better product was only half the battle. DailyObjects also had to decide how it wanted to grow. The startup had begun as a multi-category business, but it chose to drop car accessories and other retail products to concentrate on smartphone cases, which it saw as a larger and faster-growing opportunity. The idea was to build depth in one category before expanding into others. The same thinking shaped its distribution strategy. DailyObjects could have leaned on marketplaces to reach a wider audience and chase volumes. Instead, it largely stuck to its own channels, believing marketplaces could help sell a product but could not build a brand for it, even though it was a slower, more demanding route. The startup had to generate its own traffic, establish a distinct design identity and convince consumers to pay more for products they could find at a fraction of the price elsewhere. During this period, the startup raised ₹9 Cr from Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures. But according to Garg, the business had an important advantage: it had been profitable from its early stages. That gave it the room to grow without relying heavily on deep discounts or chasing marketplace volumes simply to keep the business running. DailyObjects stayed focused on phone cases for nearly five years before entering another major category. Its approach was to establish a foothold in one category, build distribution around it and then move to the next. By resisting the rush to scale through marketplaces, DailyObjects had more time to build a direct relationship with its customers. That strategy continues to define the business today, with nearly 70% of its sales coming through its own channels. DailyObjects’ Playbook: Making Everyday Products Desirable There was a logic to what DailyObjects added next. The startup was not looking to build a sprawling catalogue of accessories. It wanted to find products that appealed to the same customer it had won over with phone cases. The idea took DailyObjects into bags in FY21, opening up a much bigger opportunity than phone cases. However, it also brought a new challenge: manufacturers were unwilling to take on its small orders. Therefore, DailyObjects decided to make bags itself. The operation began with just two tables and eventually grew into its own factory. Today, bags account for around 40-45% of the company’s revenue. They are manufactured entirely in India at its own facility, which employs around 600 people. DailyObjects’ average order value is now around ₹26,000 and has been rising about 10% every year. The startup attributes the increase to products such as bags, power banks, and premium phone cases. Two years later, in FY23, DailyObjects entered into charging products. It was during this time that the startup bagged $10 Mn from 360 One Asset for product innovation and expanding its manufacturing capabilities. Its charging and STAC categories have grown nearly threefold since. The latest example is NODE, a modular wireless charging system around consumers carrying several devices between home, work and travel. The startup currently has around 50 core SKUs, excluding colour and size variants. Its revenue has grown from ₹ 24.1 Cr in FY21 to ₹39.2 Cr in FY22, to ₹84.4 Cr in FY24 and ₹110 Cr in FY25 . Garg said that the startup closed FY26 at over ₹200 Cr. While the founder didn’t divulge bottomline details for FY26, DailyObjects posted a loss of ₹16 Cr in FY25. The startup is yet to file its FY26 audited financials with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Next Challenge: Taking The Brand Beyond Metros DailyObjects spent years building its own traffic and customer base, a slower process that gave it greater control over how its products were presented and how they were priced. The payoff is beginning to show in its customer metrics. The company says its lifetime repeat purchase rate stands at around 45%. Its average order value has also risen by roughly 10% YoY to about ₹2,600, suggesting that customers are increasingly spending across its wider product range. Its customer base has also moved beyond the metros. Around 35–40% of DailyObjects’ sales now come from Tier III and IV cities, while another 20–25% comes from Tier II markets. The shift points to a broader opportunity: consumers in smaller cities are increasingly willing to spend on products that combine design with everyday utility. DailyObjects is now expanding its reach into cities such as Vizag, Patna, Ludhiana, Indore, Lucknow and Surat. But reaching more customers is only one part of the next phase. The other is making that growth more profitable. DailyObjects is currently operating close to break-even and remains on track to achieve EBITDA profitability in FY27. It expects operating margins, currently around 5%, to expand to 15-20% over the next four to five years. The improvement is expected to come from a combination of factors, including a higher-value product mix, a larger contribution from offline retail and greater supply-chain efficiencies. Recently, D2C lifestyle startup DailyObjects has raised ₹332 Cr ($34.3 Mn) in a Series C funding round co-led by Xponentia Capital Partners, Anicut Capital and Axiom Asia Private Capital. The funds will allow DailyObjects to scale its offline network, deepen its product and R&D capabilities, strengthen brand building and evaluate opportunities in international markets. DailyObjects’ Offline Push Comes With A Bigger Test For years, DailyObjects’ biggest asset was something consumers could not touch: the brand itself. Now, it is bringing that proposition into physical stores. The startup currently operates 13 exclusive brand outlets. It is opening two to three stores a month and plans to add 30-35 stores in FY27. Over the next five years, it aims to build a network of 150-160 stores. It is also present at 300 Apple premium reseller outlets. For DailyObjects, this is more than a conventional D2C brand moving offline. It is a chance to put the products at the centre of the buying experience. Consumers may discover them online, but a physical store lets them feel the materials, examine the finish and understand how a product works before paying a premium for it. According to the founder, all stores become profitable from the first month of operations. Its airport stores, in particular, are generating margins of close to 15% from the first month. Rather than limiting itself to India’s largest cities, DailyObjects is using physical retail to reach markets where it already sees significant online demand. It is also beginning to explore international markets. The startup is researching the US, where it already receives around 1,000 orders a month without dedicated marketing. But as the business grows, so will the challenge. With DailyObjects targeting ₹400 Cr in revenue in FY27, can it scale its offline and international presence while building a profitable business without losing what made its brand distinctive? Edited By Shishir Parasher Creatives: Abhyam Gusai
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