Rohan Khanduja doesn’t give entrepreneur vibes. His calm, quiet demenour has helped him reach the heights of success, even though that becomes a drawback sometimes,” Entrepreneurship doesn’t always have to be loud; sometimes it’s about quietly building systems, products, and trust that speak louder than your personality,” he explains, and as Kunal Bahl noted, a ‘Soft Rocket’ entrepreneur who has the intensity and drive to succeed, but isn’t taken seriously sometimes due to his soft spoken demeanour. Rohan has proved how this works.
Addressing an unmet need
As an avid adventure traveller, Rohan recognised the gap in the market —a lack of affordable, high-quality backpacks and trekking equipment. In 2017, he launched Tripole Gears after leaving his lucrative investment banking career.
Earlier that year, Rohan and his friends had to pay more than they expected for trekking gear- that’s when he decided to take on the challenge head-on and launch Tripole Gears. Rohan started with rucksacks trekkers use to carry whatever they need on their backs for long distances. For almost two years, Rohan and his team focused on manufacturing Rucksacks, the main required gear for trekkers- both for military and civilian purposes. Then he expanded the product line to include backpack for novice trekkers seeking thrills and experience.
Along with this, he also gradually introduced accessories, sleeping bags and apparel, especially as first-time users look to use these backpacks for other uses as well. This has helped Tripole boost its brand’s positioning beyond trekking gear.
“Our core remains utility and ruggedness, but we now balance that with everyday usability and design appeal. For example, our toiletry pouches and organizer bags are designed with the same precision as our rucksacks but meant for urban travellers too. Even our rucksacks and backpacks are now being used by long-term travellers — not just for trekking or hiking,” Rohan explains.
For Rohan, the main opportunities came post-lockdown, with people aiming to make up for the lost travel time. Here’s where things got interesting
Managing expectations post COVID
“The post-COVID period saw a big shift in people’s desire to travel and explore. We focused on creating gear that made outdoor experiences more accessible — both in price and practicality.” After almost two years indoors, the sudden surge in travel interest allowed Rohan to move beyond trekking.
“We’re now expanding beyond core rucksacks into complementary categories like urban travel gear — products that adapt to both city and air travel while staying high on utility, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Every new product we design continues to reflect the same emphasis on durability and function. The goal is to make well-engineered travel gear accessible to a wider audience without compromising on the seriousness and practicality that define Tripole,” Rohan adds.
Standing out from an increasingly crowded niche
The increase in travel demand hasn’t gone unnoticed. Leading legacy and Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands like Tripole are also competing for the aspiring traveller’s attention, one reel at a time. The interest in trekking remains high, especially as work from home offers limited chances for socialization while influencers encourage exploring the outdoors. Rohan and his team have been embracing this opportunity with promising results.
“We’ve been actively collaborating with community-driven events such as the SBI Green Marathon and SRUT Ultra, where our products are used and tested by real runners and outdoor enthusiasts,” Rohan explains, as he aims to cement his brand’s personality.
“The biggest challenge is differentiation — not just in product, but in perception. Many brands focus on looks or aspirational marketing; we’ve always focused on trust and function. Our core user knows the difference between gear built for Instagram and one built for adventure,”
To prove this, Rohan has been working with leading trekking influencers who showcase the brand’s products through their love for the outdoors.” We prefer working with creators who genuinely love the outdoors, backpacking, or travel in general. It’s less about numbers and more about authenticity,” he says. “For now, our marketing focus remains entirely on the Indian market; we don’t have influencer plans for international markets yet.”
And the numbers are showing. In FY25, Tripole achieved around ₹18.2 crore in annual sales, growing 30% year on year. The visibility through genuine product reviews have helped immensely, with returning customers placing average order values of ₹2,000.
The X factor investment
In January 2025, Rohan got his dose of fame – and a ticket to success, all thanks to his feature on Shark Tank India.
“The Shark Tank experience gave a lot of visibility and validation to what we’d been building for years. Since then, we’ve focused heavily on strengthening our existing channels rather than expanding into new ones. Our offline presence has gradually increased, and exports have grown steadily, but our biggest focus remains on our website — where we’ve seen consistent growth in both traffic and conversions.”
The sharks criticised Rohan for not growing his Instagram following that well, but that’s now behind him, as his followers have doubled since then, thanks to the feedback from leading influencers. Despite the Shark’s reservations about the company’s inflated valuations, Ritesh Agarwal believed in Rohan – and his honesty.
The future outlook
Rohan still has a long way to go, especially as he looks to deal with supply chain issues and manufacturing challenges that crop up from time to time. He credits the support from his family and team for the motivation to keep going.
“The biggest support system has been the small but deeply committed team at Tripole. I’ve also been fortunate to have well-wishers who’ve guided me through various situations. Apart from that, running and hiking keeps me sane, and the thought of building products by testing them yourself in the outdoors is invigorating enough for me to keep going,”
