BAE Watch: Bahé

Bootstrapped. Health and Fitness.

The BAE HQ

Published in

The BAE HQ

2 min readNov 12, 2023

❓ Business Model

Design, develop and sell footwear
All direct-to-consumer through their website (D2C)

📈 Traction

2000+ pairs of shoes sold
Multiple 6-figure revenue in 18 months (launched in Feb 2022)
Shoes are worn by Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif!
Partnered with The Institute of Cancer research and created custom designed grounding shoes for their campaign (worn by Greg Rutherford MBE)
Awarded loan from Virgin Start-up
Featured in Evening Standard, Women’s Fitness, The Stylist & TechRound

🌱Founding Team

Kishan Bharwad (Co-Founder)
- Head of Product at a FinTech firm.
- 6 figure revenue within a year of launching the business from bootstrapped.
Alex Ward (Co-Founder)
- 15 years footwear design & Development experience.
- Experience working for Adidas & Oliver Sweeney.
- Previous footwear start-up founder.

📖 Story

Bahé was founded by Kishan Bharwad and Alex Ward. Kishan is a running enthusiast and tinkerer. Someone with a questioning mind. Coming from a software background, Kishan wanted to apply his product’s knowledge to the physical world!

Tired of the running industry’s focus on speed and garish designs, he wanted to create a shoe that resonated with those who, like him, run for the sheer escapism of it. That’s how he met Alex. Alex is a footwear designer with a passion for sustainability.

When Kishan asked him to partner on creating a new kind of running shoe, one which was better for people and the planet, he was all in. Bahé was created to explore how we can have a healthier connection with the earth through exercise.

👀 Reasons to watch

They’ve created the world’s first grounded running shoe without compromising on performance. They’ve been used on park runs, marathons and ultra-marathons!
They use Innovative conductive technology in our shoes to physically ‘ground’ the wearer to the earth. Grounding has numerous scientifically backed benefits including reduced inflammation, enhanced performance and improved sleep.
All of their shoes are sustainably made using plant-based and recycled materials only. Including a bio-based insole and recycled upper material.
They offer ‘barefoot-style’ footwear, that offer a more natural style of movement. They offer a much wider toe box to allow your feet to splay and have a much thinner and flexible sole for increased ground feel.