Imagine Marketing Pvt. Ltd, which operates audio gear and wearables brand, boAt, has witnessed a growth of nearly 40% in its revenue through FY23, even as it had dropped its plan for a public market debut last year.
In FY23, the company claims it generated net sales of approximately Rs 4,000 crore, 39.2% higher compared to Rs 2,873 crore in the preceding year. The company declined to comment on profitability during the period under review. To be sure, it witnessed a 20% drop in margin during FY22.
boAt claims that the growth in topline came on the back of achieving leadership in both the audio and wearables categories.
It emphasised that on the audio side, partnerships with leading global companies including Qualcomm have helped it to bring leading global technology to consumers. The in-house R&D facility, boAt Labs, also boosted the brand to launch more products in the segment.
The company said in a statement that its acquisition of KaHa platform last year has enabled it to create a home-grown consumer app specifically tailored for Indian consumers and use-cases.
The consumer electronics firm also made significant investments towards local manufacturing of its products, thanks to its tie-ups with EMS players, including Dixon, with whom boAt has also created a manufacturing JV. In FY23 alone, around 15 million products were made in India by boAt.
"Having raised private equity capital over multiple rounds including from Warburg Pincus, we believe boAt is well positioned and capitalised to continue to make aggressive investments in establishing ourselves as a leading wearables brand in the country, similar to our achievements in the audio category," said Sameer Mehta, co-founder and chief executive officer, boAt.
The brand had dropped its listing plans due to concerns related to market conditions and instead mopped up around Rs 500 crore in a fresh round of equity funding led by its existing backer Warburg Pincus and new investor Malabar Investments, in October last year.
Mumbai-Based boAt had filed its DRHP in January last year to raise Rs 2,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). However, just like several other startups, the company had to defer listing due to tough market conditions.
boAt competes with the likes of another homegrown company Noise, which is also in the market to raise funding. Other players in the segment include Realme, Amazefit, Play, and Fire-Boltt.
Noise also had a decent run-in terms of financials last fiscal. It claims its revenue grew more than 100% year-on-year to Rs 2,000 crore in the financial year ended 31 March 2023.
