In a year when the Cannes Film Festival continues to broaden its cultural footprint beyond cinema, it was a husband-and-wife duo from India’s startup world who quietly stole a moment on one of the planet’s most watched red carpets.
Sneh Sharma Khanal and Bhupendra Khanal, co-founders of the fast-growing pet care label Dogsee Chew, made their appearance at Cannes 2026 this week , not as filmmakers or celebrities, but as entrepreneurs whose decade-long journey from the Himalayan foothills to international retail shelves has become a story worth telling on any stage.
A Brand Born in the Mountains
The couple founded Dogsee Chew in 2015 with a fairly unconventional premise: that the centuries-old tradition of Himalayan communities chewing hardened yak milk blocks could be reimagined as a premium, health-conscious treat for pet dogs. The result was a line of handcrafted, preservative-free chews made from yak and cow milk — long-lasting, natural, and unlike anything that dominated Western pet store aisles at the time.
What followed was a gradual but steady climb. Today, Dogsee Chew products are sold in more than 30 countries, finding loyal audiences in markets across North America, Europe, and beyond. The brand has positioned itself firmly within the global movement toward clean-label, ethically sourced pet nutrition, a segment that has seen explosive consumer interest in recent years.
Entrepreneurs on a Global Stage
Their walk down the Cannes red carpet is, in many ways, a reflection of a broader shift happening within India’s entrepreneurial landscape. A new generation of founders , many of them building globally competitive businesses from cities and regions that rarely made international headlines a decade ago, are increasingly claiming space at the world’s premier cultural and business platforms.
For the Khanals, Cannes represents more than a photo opportunity. It is a moment of visibility for a brand that has spent years doing the unglamorous work of building supply chains, navigating international regulations, and educating consumers about a product category most hadn’t considered before.
The Bigger Picture
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival, running from May 12 to May 23, has drawn the usual constellation of film industry royalty. But woven between the premieres and press conferences are stories like this one , of founders and creators who are redefining what it means to have a presence at Cannes in the first place.
For a brand rooted in mountain tradition and built on the belief that pets deserve better ingredients, the red carpet may just be the most unexpected and fitting backdrop yet.