boAt raises over $100 million from Warburg Pincus — analysts expect the headphone brand to double its revenue to ₹10 billion this financial year

• India audio equipment brand boAt has raised over $100 million from Warburg Pincus, a global private equity fund.
• The five-year old brand has shot to popularity because of its affordable and smart range of headphones, earphones, smartwatches, and speakers, among others.
• In FY20, the startup reported revenue of ₹5 billion, and analysts at HDFC Securities expect it to double to ₹10 billion in the financial year ending March 2021.

India audio equipment brand boAt has raised over $100 million from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity fund.

The five-year old brand has shot to popularity because of its affordable and smart range of headphones, earphones, smartwatches, and speakers, among others. The boAt headphones that have become a common sight and the company once claimed was selling $4, has been raking in revenue too in large numbers.

boAt	FY20	Growth
Revenue	₹5 billion	2X year-on-year

Source: HDFC Securities

According to a report by HDFC Securities dated December 17, 2020, analysts also expect its revenue to double to ₹10 billion in the financial year ending March 2021, as the average order value, which stood at ₹450 until last year, has jumped to ₹750. “COVID accelerated demand for wearables and boAt was the key beneficiary. Although demand has tapered down post-festive season, it is still 40% YoY. Company expects revenue growth to rebound in Dec and Jan,” said the HDFC Securities report.

boAt is currently the number one player in the Indian market with over 30% market share, while it holds a 2.6% market share in the global market.

And it's increasing the latter share that boAt seems to be interested in. “The investment has come at the right time as we make efforts to ramp up our manufacturing and global supply chain,” said Aman Gupta, co-founder, boAt in a statement.

Earlier in 2019, the startup had also raised ₹20 crore in venture debt from Sachin Bansal, Flipkart founder who now runs Navi Technologies. It also counts Fireside Ventures as one of its early investors.

Riding on the Make-in-India theme, boAt has also shifted its manufacturing from China to India. “Going forward, with the Government’s support, we will focus on building capabilities in domestic R&D and undertake vertical integration across both the hearable and wearable space to establish India as a global supplier,” said Sameer Mehta, co-founder, boAt in a statement.

The brand is now also preparing to enter the smartwatches and fitness category, coming into competition with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, who have been dominating the market.

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