Tego co-founder Krishna Chandak on engineering-led growth, functional luxury and India’s evolving fitness consumer
What whitespace in the market led to the creation of Tego, and how has the founding vision evolved over time?
Tego was conceived almost a decade ago, when we saw a clear gap between mass-market fitness brands and international incumbents. What was often missed then was that this gap was as much cultural as it was commercial. There was no brand truly built around the everyday athlete. Not the elite professional, and not someone buying fitness gear as a commodity, but a disciplined, regular user who expects products to perform consistently.
From the beginning, our focus was on versatility and longevity. The everyday athlete wants products that last, adapt across use cases, and integrate seamlessly into different workout styles. We started with accessories, but as we understood these needs better, the brand evolved into a complete system supporting running, lifting and yoga. That philosophy—Run. Lift. Flow.—has taken us from being an accessories-led brand to a holistic fitness brand aligned with how people actually train.
In a crowded fitness and activewear market, what differentiates Tego, and how defensible is your business model long term?
Our strongest differentiator is the depth of product engineering behind everything we make. We have spent years studying how Indian consumers actually use, misuse and stress products. That has involved extensive failure analysis, material experimentation and learning from real-world conditions.
Equally important is how the brand has grown. Much of our traction has come organically through word-of-mouth rather than heavy paid marketing. At our price point, very few brands are approaching a million customers with this kind of organic pull. That has created strong brand durability, reflected in consistently high organic search demand.
We have also developed a tone of voice that resonates with early adopters—understanding how this consumer wants to be spoken to is a skill we have refined over time. Strategic partnerships further reinforce this positioning. From supplying yoga mats to Taj Hotels to collaborating with luxury automotive brands, these associations place Tego firmly within an ecosystem of functional luxury rather than pure aspiration.
What growth milestones stand out for Tego, and which metrics matter most at this stage?
We have always prioritised quality of growth over speed. Customer retention is one of our most important indicators because repeat purchase behaviour is the foundation for sustainable portfolio expansion.
A key part of this strategy has been creating multiple entry points into the brand. Our yoga mat is a good example—it was engineered to perform across yoga, weight training and even workouts with shoes. A great deal of effort went into understanding everyday contexts and building a product that could handle all of them without compromise. When retention is strong, scaling responsibly becomes far more achievable.
How are changing consumer behaviour and technology adoption shaping your product roadmap and go-to-market approach?
Krishna Chandak: Our growth has been built on trust earned over a long period, and that trust gives us the licence to expand across categories. The premium fitness market in India is currently estimated at around 10 million consumers, with projections suggesting it could grow to 30–40 million. As categories blur, the opportunity becomes even more compelling.
We still believe we are early to the market. Categories like yoga mats are only beginning to scale meaningfully. Our approach is rooted in consumer understanding—down to details such as placement points on yoga mats based on average Indian male and female heights, or balancing performance with calming, thoughtful design.
This philosophy extends to newer categories like running vests, where we are increasingly becoming a preferred hydration partner as India’s running culture grows through clubs and communities. Every product is designed to feel intentional, functional and relevant.
Looking ahead 24–36 months, what are Tego’s expansion plans and how do you define success?
When adapting technology for India, we are mindful that the market is price-sensitive and that many international products are over-engineered for local conditions. Our approach is to curate and adapt technology for Indian weather, climate, wash conditions and real use cases.
Consumer expectations are evolving rapidly, creating room for deeper, more relevant products. We see a clear shift from aspiration to integration—people want products that fit into daily life while delivering performance across multiple sports. This idea underpins what we describe as a performance lifestyle.
Sustainability is another key pillar, but we approach it honestly. Rather than greenwashing, we focus on durability and high-performance natural fibres, as seen in our BreatheSide natural fibre tees. Longevity is becoming a major purchase driver, with consumers choosing to buy less but buy better.
Our go-to-market strategy will continue to prioritise integration over interruption—organic presence in social feeds, strong editorial storytelling, and partnerships with premium gyms and sporting events. Being present where people actually train remains central to our approach.
For us, success is cultural relevance. We want Tego to be top of mind for the discerning fitness consumer in India and to serve as a benchmark for functional luxury. Over the next 24–36 months, the brand will expand beyond activewear into a broader functional lifestyle portfolio. Some adjacent categories are already in development and will be revealed in due course.
In the near term, we are deepening our presence across Run, Lift and Flow, while sustainability continues to be driven by product quality and durability. We are also exploring nutraceuticals as a future category. In fact, within the next quarter alone, Tego will expand from three categories to fourteen, marking the beginning of a very different phase for the brand.
