CHK, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) footwear start-up founded by Sankar Bora, a cofounder of DealShare, has raised US $ 2.5 million from investment firm Accel, jewellery retailer Bluestone, and a few other investors.
The Bengaluru-based start-up plans to use the fresh capital to increase R&D and accelerate production prior to its public launch in April. In November 2024, Bluestone invested around US $ 1.3 million, in the business.
Bora, Deepan Babu, Bharat Mahajan, and Deepak Patil founded CHK in October 2024 with the company targeting an average price point of about Rs. 4,500.
Bora said that many Indian companies have been forced to either manage design and manufacturing in-house or rely on domestic manufacturing capabilities as a result of India’s legal demand that all shoe brand factories must be accredited by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). CHK anticipates being approved by April after submitting an application for BIS certification.
With a manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu, CHK intends to start selling directly to consumers online before branching out into physical retail. Currently, the company employs about 25 people in Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru, with hopes to reach 100 by April.
The brand’s “concept to creation” strategy, according to Bora, guarantees complete control over the production process, from the design studio to the final product, enabling quicker turnaround times and greater cost effectiveness.
