In June 2021, when actor, creator and influencer Prajakta Koli, also known as Mostly Sane, launched her line of merchandise, including tees and sweatshirts, she didn’t expect it to yield much. “I had done this before, and the last time around, I didn’t feel that the merch was a reflection of me. My team and I had also been wondering if we were there yet… you know, at a point to create merch. Then, we realised we may never be as successful as we want, so let’s do it anyway.” 

Gurpreet Singh, COO and co-founder of One Digital Entertainment, the firm that handles Koli’s work, is also behind The MerchBay, India’s first creator-driven merchandise marketplace. He says, “We are also new at it. The market itself is at an early stage of growth. What we didn’t anticipate was that the server would hang because so many of her fans wanted to buy. Our Instagram is full of comments like ‘my exams got over today, and my parents have promised me Mostly Sane merch if I do well’.”