Walmart And VC Firms See Two Paths For DTC Brands

These days there’s a direct-to-consumer brand for everything. Of course, there are the established examples, like Warby Parker and Bonobos. Then there are a younger set of venture capital-fueled darlings like Away, Allbirds and Casper. Look deeper and you’ll find an onslaught of digitally native vertical brands in every niche category from vitamins to dentistry. Roughly $4 billion in venture capital (VC) funding has been pumped into direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, Randy Yang, senior director and head of corporate development of digital consumer brands at Walmart eCommerce, said during a panel at NRF’s Big Show on Tuesday about how VC firms view the new next wave of DTC brands. Yang, who helps develop Walmart’s growing portfolio of direct-to-consumer brands, including Bonobos, Modcloth, Eloquii and Allswell, is a part of a changing narrative within the space. Read more at Retail Dive.