Warburg Pincus, Malabar commit $60m to India wearables brand
Warburg Pincus and Malabar Investments have injected USD 60m into boAT, an India-based manufacturer of wearables and other electronic devices that was previously on track for an IPO.
The company said it raised the capital through a private placement of preferred shares. The proceeds will be used for product line expansion – specifically in the smart watch category – as well as for upgrading R&D and design capabilities, scaling the business across different distribution channels and geographies, and local manufacturing operations.
BoAT filed for a domestic IPO earlier this year but then withdrew its application. Several other private equity-backed companies have taken this course of action amid volatility in public markets.
Warburg Pincus invested around USD 100m in boAT last year, describing the deal as a landmark event for India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) segment. At the time, the company was ranked number one among personal audio brands in the country, while IDC claimed it was the fifth-largest wearables brand globally.
Launched in 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, boAT’s product range includes headphones, earphones, smart watches, speakers, travel chargers, and premium cables. It is positioned as an affordable lifestyle brand, with prices and designs intended to appeal to a younger local audience.
Until recently, products were designed in-house at labs based in India and manufacturing was outsourced to China. One of the objectives of the initial investment by Warburg Pincus was to support the development of a local manufacturing ecosystem under the “made in India” initiative.
Earlier this year, boAT established a joint venture with India-based contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies. The company announced in August that monthly local production volume in the first quarter of the current financial year reached 1m units. Gupta said at the time that he wanted to reach 1-2m units per month from September.
Commenting on the most recent capital raise, Gupta highlighted the company’s ambitions in the smart watch space, which it regards as underpenetrated and lacking compelling products.
“We have established clear leadership in our core personal audio category and are the number two player globally in earwear. It is a matter of great pride that a brand that was born in India is now ranked amongst the top brands in the world,” he said in a statement, cited by Moneycontrol.
“The new funding will allow us to invest significantly to disrupt the smart watches spaces with more innovative products.”
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.