boAt raises Rs 500 cr to expand market share in smartwatches

Imagine Marketing Limited, the parent company of consumer electronics brand boAt, is raising Rs 500 crore from its existing shareholder, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity fund and new investor Malabar Investments.

The investment, said the company, will enable it to accelerate its plans to attain leadership in the smartwatches category, scale up its business both within and outside India and further strengthen its R&D and design capabilities.

"The new funding will allow us to invest significantly to disrupt the smart watches spaces with more innovative products. And we are thrilled that investors continue to have strong conviction and confidence in the boAt story," said Aman Gupta, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, of boAt.

The company is making significant progress in diversifying its manufacturing footprint via partnerships with various leading electronics manufacturing services (EMS) players in India, including Dixon, with whom it has also created a manufacturing joint venture.

A significant proportion of boAt's products are now being produced in India (1 million units every month currently).

The company said it is also planning to take the boAt brand overseas.

"Through boAt labs (our 120-person in-house R&D team) and our acquisition of KaHa Technologies, (a world-class wearables technology and IoT platform, with 64 patents and patent applications), we are developing the next generation of products," informed Sameer Mehta, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of boAt.

boAt closed FY 2022 with net revenue of approximately Rs 3,000 crore with 100 per cent YoY growth.