Warburg Pincus-backed lifestyle consumer electronics startup boAt is looking at a greater market share. The brand, which is operated by Imagine Marketing, raised $100 million earlier this year.
Vivek Gambhir, who has joined Imagine Marketing as its CEO from his previous role as the CEO and MD of Godrej Consumer Products, said the company which is a little over five years old has been able to garner market share in the personal audio segment in a short span and will explore expansion and acquisitions as it looks to scale up the business.
“The intent is for the company to become a multi-category, multi-brand, and multi-channel and multi-geography player. We still see there is a tremendous opportunity in the personal audio segment, but we also see opportunities in home audio, accessories, wearables and smartwatch, personal care products,” he said.
The company, which has backing from Qualcomm Ventures, Innoven Capital among others, is looking to expand its distribution channels.
“Historically, we have largely been focused in the online marketplaces. Our website now is gaining traction and even the offline business is around 15 per cent of our revenue. So we do see an increasing opportunity for omnichannel play. While so far the focus has been completely on India, we are also evaluating opportunities to go beyond India,” Gambhir added.
The company does not have any immediate plans to have its manufacturing but will expand the contract manufacturing scope as it adds more products, he said.
“By the end of this year, we are targeting about 10 per cent of our volume to be made in India. This can be expanded to 30 per cent in the next three years. We are working with eight different manufacturing partners. The intent is not to own our manufacturing but partner with contractors,” he said.
The latest funding has opened opportunities to support inorganic expansion.
“Thanks to the investment we have from Warburg we now have the balance sheet to look at strategic acquisitions. The focus will be on organic growth while making a few acquisitions,” he said.
According to Counterpoint Research, Indian TWS (true wireless stereo) shipments reached a record 8 million during the third quarter of 2021 with boAt holding a 35.8 per cent market share.
