Sankar Bora’s footwear startup, CHK, has raised 21.6 crore rupees (US$2.5 million) in total funding during its seed round, led by Accel.

The company previously secured pre-seed investment from BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle Ltd.

The new funds will enhance production capacity and support a go-to-market strategy ahead of CHK’s planned launch in April.

The startup has set up an in-house design and production facility in Tamil Nadu, which is expected to start operations within two weeks.

Founded in September 2024 by Sankar Bora, Deepan Babu, Bharat Mahajan, and Deepak Patil, CHK aims to offer lifestyle footwear tailored for millennial and Gen-Z consumers in India.