Toy startups sweat to navigate tariff storm

Founders bet on GST cuts, incentives and quick commerce to offset risks

- Sakshi Sadashiv & Sowmya Ramasubramanian

Growing investor interest in India's toy and babycare startups is facing a new threat: Trump's tariffs. Yet, founders and their financial backers are counting on tax cuts, local incentives, curbs on substandard imports and fast-growing quick-commerce sales to ride the storm.

"We see a lot of demand for vocabulary and STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics]-focused play sets like building blocks for learning new words," said Sourabh Jain, founder and chief executive officer of EleFant.

"The quality of materials has also improved as parents are increasingly preferring products manufactured locally."