The ecosystem of so-called insurgent brands generated an estimated $7.5 billion in revenue in FY25, up from $2 billion five years ago, according to a report by Bain & Company and DSG Consumer Partners. Powered by digital commerce, quick-commerce platforms and rapid product innovation, these challengers are winning customers by targeting needs that larger rivals often overlook.
“Consumer insurgents continue to significantly outpace the broader market. While they still account for less than 2% of most categories (with the exception of beauty & personal care), they are growing much faster than the category average,” said Hariharan Premkumar, managing director and head of DSG Consumer Partners India.
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The pressure is becoming increasingly visible across categories. Bain’s analysis found insurgent jewellery brands grew nearly 6.5 times faster than the broader market over the last five years, while beauty and personal care insurgents expanded six times faster. Home and kitchen, as well as wearables and devices, also recorded outsized growth.
For incumbent consumer companies, the threat is less about scale today and more about changing consumer behaviour. Many of the newer brands have built followings around specific consumer needs — from protein-rich snacks and healthier beverages to science-backed skincare and ergonomic furniture — areas that large companies have often been slower to address.
“Indian insurgent brands have fundamentally changed how consumer categories are built and scaled in India. They are winning by focusing on emerging or latent consumer needs, building mastery in media and channel deployment, and high velocity innovation. These capabilities have enabled insurgents not only to disrupt established categories and take share from incumbents, but also to create entirely new growth pools,” said Rohit Shankar, partner at Bain & Company.Quick commerce has further accelerated the trend.
“Among an important enabler for the next generation of consumer insurgents has been digital commerce and more recently quick commerce, which requires a new-to-CPG ‘consumer tech’ like muscle. Insurgents have taken the lead in this channel, building spikes in nine must-win capability areas,” Shankar added.
Yet breaking out remains difficult. Less than 1% of consumer companies founded since 2008 have crossed Rs 100 crore in revenue, while only 22% of insurgent brands above that threshold have grown beyond Rs 500 crore, highlighting how few challengers ultimately achieve enduring scale.