Easy Spirit Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, which operates the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sustainable footwear brand CHUPPS, said it has raised $1.5 million (around Rs 11 crore) in its pre-series A funding round from Green Frontier Capital and other lead investors such as Gunavanth Vaid from 4G Capital, Kaushal Vora from Genesis Packaging, among others.
Green-tech venture fund Green Frontier Capital's founding adviser Soumitra Dutta has been appointed as an adviser at CHUPPS’ board, the startup said in a statement.
“Climate change is one of the world's most pressing issues today. Our purchasing decisions have an impact on the size of our ecological footprint. Sustainable living is a philosophy that seeks to reduce personal and societal environmental impact and CHUPPS, as a highly responsible and eco-friendly lifestyle brand, is perfectly positioned in that regard, especially as Indian footwear manufacturers are poised for explosive growth in the post-pandemic world, said Dutta.
Founded in 2021, CHUPPS is a direct-to-consumer sustainable footwear brand offering quintessential flip flops in cool and quirky reimagined avatars. It is launching a sustainable sneaker and outdoor wear for both women and men with products made from sustainable materials.
“CHUPPS, with its wide distribution network, in both online and offline channels, and a huge surge in export orders, CHUPPS is well-positioned to take a market leader position. GFC’s core values of sustainability are an ideal fit for us. The new funding from GFC will open up many additional investment avenues in the future since many funds are looking to invest in sustainable ventures such as ours," said Gaurav Agarwal, co-founder of CHUPPS.
Earlier in May, VCCircle reported that the retail arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, is in advanced stages of discussion to pick up a controlling stake in Mumbai-based women footwear brand Catwalk Pvt. Ltd.
