The latest Virat Kohli deal looks like another celebrity brand story. It isn't. After the NCLT cleared One8's merger with Agilitas Sports, Kohli's stake in the company rose from 1.8% to 6.4%, without another investment. What's interesting is what he now owns a piece of: a company trying to make the shoes, build the brands and sell them itself.
Agilitas, started by former Puma India chief Abhishek Ganguly, did things backwards by startup standards. Instead of launching a label and finding factories, it bought Mochiko, a manufacturer that makes shoes for global names such as Adidas, Puma and Skechers. It then added Lotto, brought One8 into the business and opened SportsYard stores. In theory, this means better control over design, quality and supply, while keeping more of each sale. SportsYard can reveal what shoppers prefer, although running stores adds rent, unsold stock and another layer of expense.
But factories are expensive, even when they're busy. Agilitas reported revenue of roughly ₹1,400 crore in FY2026, yet the earlier numbers tell a less comfortable story. It lost ₹86 crore on ₹1,015 crore of revenue in FY2025. At Mochiko, operating margins fell from 11% in FY2023 to 3.8% in the first half of FY2025. Borrowings reached about ₹402 crore by September 2024. Owning production doesn't remove costs. It moves them onto your balance sheet.
There's also an awkward question. Mochiko manufactures for international brands that One8 now wants to compete with. Its three largest customers contributed about 80% of FY2024 revenue. If those relationships suffer, Agilitas could lose valuable manufacturing business before its own brands have built enough sales to replace it.
And One8 isn't chasing the budget buyer. With shoes priced around ₹4,000 to ₹10,000, it must convince people to choose it over Nike, Adidas and Skechers. Kohli can get shoppers to look. He cannot guarantee they'll return. Campus Activewear, meanwhile, built a ₹1,774 crore FY2026 business selling shoes at an average ₹683 a pair, showing how different the economics of India's footwear market can be.
Nike and Lululemon, ironically, don't own most of their factories. Their strength lies in making products people want and getting them to customers. Agilitas has bought the ability to make shoes at scale. What it hasn't bought is a customer willing to pay a premium for its own brands. That is the real test.
Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.
“Rula Diya Na Bechari Ko”: PB Fintech Shares Fall 48% Since IRDAI Consultation Paper
PB Fintech shares closed at Rs 928.10 after touching a fresh 52-week low of Rs 926, extending their decline to 48% since IRDAI released a consultation paper on September 23.
The proposals could reduce distribution payouts and alter the point-of-sales-person framework.
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“Kuch Toh Gadbad Hai Daya”: Spandana Reports Rs 7.8 Cr Cyber Fraud
Spandana Sphoorty Financial identified unauthorised transactions worth about Rs 7.8 crore from one of its bank accounts on November 1.
The money was transferred to multiple beneficiary accounts.
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“Theek Hai Na Bhai”: SEBI Recommends Scrapping LTCG Tax For Foreign Investors
SEBI has recommended that the government remove long-term capital gains tax for foreign investors and provide relief when mutual-fund investors switch between schemes.
The recommendation is not binding and requires government approval.
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“Swagat Nahi Karoge Humara”: Razorpay Gets Final IFSCA Licence
Razorpay has received its final Payment Service Provider licence from IFSCA after securing in-principle approval in April.
It can now run cross-border money movement from GIFT City under one regulatory framework.
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“Hum Saath Saath Hain”: Provision Labs Acquires Basilisk Industries
Provision Labs, founded by Pronto founder Anjali Sardana, has acquired Mumbai-based hardware startup Basilisk Industries.
Basilisk brings 3D hand-tracking, perception hardware and a tactile glove to the combined company.
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“AI Ki Shakti Dhoom Machaye”: Taghash Launches Brain For Investment Funds
Investment-management platform Taghash has launched Brain, an AI assistant that analyses fund data, prepares reports, creates live dashboards and handles operational tasks for investment teams.
The company says more than half of India's active venture funds use its platform.
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“Kuch Naya Ho Jaaye”: Arrowhead AI Launches Multilingual Voice Model Fletch
Bengaluru-based Arrowhead AI has launched Fletch, a text-to-speech model supporting 14 languages, mid-sentence language switching and 12 emotion styles for multilingual customer calls.
The company reports 80-millisecond latency and speech initiation in under 100 milliseconds.
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“Paisa Laya?”: Fibe Launches UPI Payments After NPCI Approval
Digital lender Fibe has launched UPI payments after receiving NPCI approval to operate as a third-party application provider.
The service is available even to consumers who are not existing Fibe customers.
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“Idhar Ka Maal Udhar”: Xflow Launches Global SaaS Subscription Manager
Cross-border payments company Xflow has launched SaaS Subscription Management, allowing businesses to pay and track global subscriptions such as AWS, OpenAI, Figma and Slack from one place.
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“Kaddu Katega Sab Mein Batega”: Leverage Edu Expands Employee Ownership
Leverage Edu has completed its third employee stock-option buyback and granted options to 100 more employees.
The company says 23% of its workforce now holds equity.
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“Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi”: BikeWo And Eden Plan EV Expansion In Tamil Nadu
BikeWo Green Tech and Eden Green Energy have signed an MoU to explore EV fleet solutions, vehicle leasing, charging infrastructure and rider and workforce operations.
The partners plan dedicated electric fleets and charging networks in Tamil Nadu, including Tiruchirappalli and Chennai.
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Two Point O Capital has raised $10 million in a round led by Transition Venture Capital, with Omnivore, Chiranjeev Singh Saluja and Sudhir M Reddy participating.
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Clinics On Cloud has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding from Dubai-based Model42, powered by Enlightened Minds Investments.
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Axial Aero has closed a Rs 51 crore Series A round from Lucky Investment Managers, Rainmatter and existing investors.
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Dispatch Network has raised Rs 5 crore in a pre-seed round led by Antler India, with Krishi Fagwani, Yashin Mahadevia and Parth Modwadhia participating.
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Hyeglo Beauty has raised Rs 7 crore in a round led by Sauce, with Giga Capital, Consumer Collective, Arjun Purkayastha and Patient Capital participating.
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OBSESS has raised about Rs 3 crore in an angel round from Pushpendra Singh, Amit Goel and Harshit Vij.
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