DealShare cofounder Sankar Bora’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) footwear startup CHK has raised $2.5 million in funding from investment firm Accel, jewellery retailer Bluestone, and some individual investors.
The Bengaluru-based company plans to deploy the fresh capital to accelerate production and strengthen its research and development (R&D) efforts ahead of its public launch in April.
CHK plans to deploy the fresh capital to accelerate production and strengthen its research and development (R&D) efforts ahead of its public launch in April.
“After leaving DealShare, I wanted to create a brand in fashion which has always been close to my heart. I found sneakers to be a promising category given the structural change in usage patterns among the younger generations. Moreover, there is a white space in design innovation focused sneakers in premium and mass-premium categories,” Bora told ET.
Bluestone invested around Rs 12 crore (approximately $1.3 million) in November 2024 in the company.
Founded in October 2024 by Bora, Deepan Babu, Bharat Mahajan, and Deepak Patil, CHK is targeting an average price point of around Rs 4,500.
He added that India’s regulatory mandate requiring all shoe brand factories to be certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has pushed many Indian companies to either handle design and manufacturing in-house or rely on domestic manufacturing capabilities. CHK has applied for BIS certification and expects approval by April.
Bora, who was the chief operating officer (COO) of DealShare, exited the firm in 2023 following significant business restructuring and multiple rounds of job cuts.
CHK has a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and plans to launch sales through its own D2C website before expanding into offline retail channels. The company currently has around 25 employees across Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu, with plans to increase headcount to 100 by April.
Bora further said that the brand’s “concept to creation” approach ensures full control over the production process—from the design studio to the finished product—allowing for faster turnaround times and better cost efficiency.
“With CHK, we are excited to get an early ringside seat for what promises to be an exciting journey in building a manufacturing-led innovative D2C footwear brand out of India,” said Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel.
