Consumer electronics brand boAt has received an undisclosed amount in funding from Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of wireless technologies major Qualcomm Inc.
boAt will utilise the capital to roll out next-generation audio and lifestyle products across geographies.
"As boAt enters the next phase of growth and innovation, we look forward to building a relationship with Qualcomm to deepen our R&D capabilities and further augment our efforts to manufacture products in India,” said Sameer Mehta, co-founder of boAt.
Recently, the brand roped in Vivek Gambhir, who was till June last year spearheading Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, as its chief executive officer.
Mumbai-based boAt was founded in 2016 by Mehta and Aman Gupta. The startup’s product catalogue includes headphones, earphones, wearables, speakers, and related accessories such as chargers and cables.
It claims, citing International Data Corporation (IDC), a 20% share in India’s earwear segment.
boAt, operated by Imagine Marketing Pvt Ltd, raised nearly $100 million from US-based buyout fund Warburg Pincus early this year.
The startup claims to have generated at least Rs 500 crore in gross revenues for the financial year 2019-20. It reported net sales of Rs 239 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 8.7 crore for the financial year ended March 2019, according to VCCEdge.
The firm had got a commitment of Rs 20 crore in venture debt from Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal last year, according to media reports. In May 2018, boAt raised Rs 6 crore from Bengaluru-based early stage venture firm Fireside Ventures.
