Building the ‘Nike for Doctors’: How Knya built a Rs 250 crore business

The Covid-19 pandemic was a disaster for many businesses, but some found opportunities amid the disruption. Husband-wife duo Abhijeet Kaji and Vanshika Kaji were among such entrepreneurs. Drawing on her experience as a fourth-generation textile entrepreneur, Vanshika chose to build a brand for personal protective equipment (PPE).

Abhijeet said that initially, it was an unbranded business supplying hospital consumables, such as adult diapers and bedsheets, before they stumbled upon the opportunity in medical scrubs. “We spoke to numerous doctors, nurses, technicians, and hospital procurement staff, and it became clear that there was a massive unmet need. Medical professionals in India are often treated poorly. About 75% of doctors get physically attacked at least once during their professional career, and their average life expectancy in India is just 59 years, compared to 71 years for non-doctors. We felt there was a real opportunity to build a brand that celebrates medical professionals. We wanted to build the ‘Nike for doctors,’” he said.

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In June 2020, the duo established Knya Enterprise Private Limited, which sells medical scrubs, medical footwear, clogs, and stethoscopes. Today, Knya primarily sells through its website and mobile app. It also operates 38 retail stores across the country. The brand is present in major metros like Delhi and Kolkata, as well as Tier II, Tier III, and Tier IV cities, such as Patna, Thrissur, Davanagere, Ernakulam, Hyderabad, and Secunderabad.

The company has so far served over 1.5 million medical professionals across India and has partnered with over 1,000 medical institutes.

Comfy and caring

Knya’s scrubs are available in both cotton-polyester blends and its proprietary Ecolex (or Ecoflex) line featuring four-way stretch technology, which allows unrestricted movement during bending, lifting, and emergency rounds. These clothes can withstand high-temperature washing and autoclaving (high-pressure steam sterilisation in hospital systems) to eliminate germs. At the same time, they prevent heavy sweating, stay cool, and dry quickly. These clothes also have a built-in tech which helps reduce infection risks.

While prices for Knya’s classic scrubs start from Rs 1000, the premium Ecoflex could go up to Rs 2499. Knya’s stethoscope line, called 6sense, has special stethoscopes for pediatricians, as they are built for the acoustic needs of infant and child auscultation.

Abhijeet said that the market potential for medical wear in India is huge. “There are more than 10 million healthcare professionals in the country, growing at 15% annually as new medical colleges open. We estimate the market size for medical lifestyle products to be between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore. Internationally, markets like the US and Europe already have multiple publicly listed, multi-billion-dollar medical wear companies, whereas India is only now organising this space,” he said.

According to DataBridge Market Research, India’s medical scrubs market is expected to reach $3.80 billion by 2032 from $2.90 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.67% from 2025 to 2032. Besides Knya, several brands, including Alleda Scrubs, Mafatlal Industries, and ScrubIndia, are also competing in this category.

Akshat Jueja, a paediatrician from Bhopal, has been using Knya’s scrubs for the last five years since he was in his third year of MBBS and said that Knya has captured a void in the medical industry.

“In the medical industry, nobody previously focused on doctors’ comfort, even though we easily work for more than 12 hours a day, which can sometimes extend up to 36 hours. However, companies like Knya have eventually realised that comfort plays a pivotal role; hence, they have ventured into other products as well, such as clogs. These lifestyle products combine functionality with comfort so that the overall daily life of a medical professional improves. I think more brands should get involved in this space,” he said.

“Although there are not many brands involved right now and you can mostly find scrubs, there still is not much technology or research dedicated to understanding what is truly needed for a doctor's comfort when it comes to other products,” he added.

Going global

Just like any other small business, Knya too faced its own set of challenges in scaling. Abhijeet mentioned how operating stores nationwide means dealing with complex state-by-state compliance and GST (goods and services tax) regulations.

“People management is another hurdle; attracting senior talent, such as our head of retail (who previously built out store networks for major brands) and our head of technology, requires convincing top professionals to join a growing company. Additionally, tight working capital management is essential to scale efficiently without over-leveraging,” he said.

Knya is currently tracking an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of over Rs 250 crore. Abhijeet said that the company reported audited financial revenue of Rs 110 crore in FY26, with an EBITDA margin of 10-15%. Its revenue stood at Rs 60 crore in FY25 and Rs 27.2 crore in FY24. The company expects revenue to cross Rs 200 crore in FY27.

“We have been EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and PAT (profit after tax) positive every year since day one. We currently employ close to 240 to 250 people across Mumbai and various other locations,” Abhijeet said.

The company is now working to expand its offline retail footprint by opening 3 to 4 stores every month. At the same time, it is working to increase its international presence. “We launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 7-8 months ago and are expanding into Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Further, the company is looking to double down on new product categories like footwear and developing specialised, digitised stethoscopes tailored to the needs of Indian doctors.