What It Takes to Build India’s Next Big D2C Brand? | IGP & Interflora | FOWR12 Ragini Varma

What happens when a leader with a technology-and-operations background turns his lens to India’s booming gifting and occasion-commerce industry? In this episode of FyndOutWithRagini, we sit down with Ankur Gupta — the Chief Operating Officer at Join Ventures, the digital‐first celebration-brands house behind multiple gifting & flower business ventures.Ankur’s path is not just about running operations — it’s about scaling emotional commerce, personalisation, supply chains and brand ecosystems in the D2C space. You’ll hear how he took his experience in operational excellence and applied it to the world of flowers, cakes, gifts, festivals, and high-stakes weddings.Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to FyndOutWithRagini for more such motivating founder stories.Time Stamps:00:00 - Precap01:46 - Introduction of Ankur3:17 - Thought process behind choosing IGP4:10 - First catalogue product of IGP6:30 - Figuring out problems in the flower business7:21 - How did customers react to defective products?8:05 - Solution to customer problems10:17 - How did IGP crack making cakes?11:46 - Friends reaction to Ankur selling flowers13:09 - Is IGP better than FNP?13:54 - Journey from $100 to $1M15:02 - Supply chain management for handling the demand for rakhis16:46 - Getting to selling a million rakhis19:00 - Is Interflora an IGP brand?20:30 - Bouquet meant worthless in 201721:32 - Most selling flowers in India24:32 - How did Interflora manage business during Covid?26:10 - First city Interflora launched in India27:14 - Peak festivals for Interflora28:30 - Mother’s day and Valentine’s day31:18 - State that has surprised Interflora the most32:32 - Craziest story where a celebrity ordered a bed full of roses32:52 - How do they plan for festivals?35:28 - How does IGP compete with Bombay Sweet Shop?37:04 - How do orders get prepared at Interflora?38:30 - Quick commerce and its effect on Ankur’s business41:02 - Handling personalisation with scale41:50 - Assortment of products as per festivals44:25 - High profile weddings by Interflora46:16 - First celebrity wedding experience48:17 - Anant Ambani’s wedding preparations49:45 - Biggest nightmare when it comes to weddings52:08 - Is gifting a money minting business?53:40 - Wildest combination sold by Interflora55:12 - Deciding on which products to discard56:57 - 3 things to never do in a gifting business58:07 - Myths & Facts Segment1:00:15 - Ankur sells IGP to Ragini1:00:51 - Thank youCatch the entire series on our YouTube channel – new episodes every alternate Friday!Links:Fynd Out with Ragini Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fyndoutwithragini/Fynd Out Clips Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fyndoutclips/Ragini Varma Official: https://www.instagram.com/raginnivarma/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FyndOutwithRaginiAbout Fynd –Fynd is a global commerce platform that helps brands, retailers, and businesses build, manage,and scale their digital presence. Headquartered in Mumbai and backed by Reliance, Fyndpowers online stores, omnichannel retail, logistics, and AI-driven experiences for over 2,300 brands. From e-commerce websites to AR try-ons, automation, and data-driven insights, Fynd enables businesses to create seamless customer experiences across online and offlinechannels — building the world’s most loved commerce ecosystem.