boAt To Soon File Confidential Draft Papers For INR 2,000 Cr IPO

Aman Gupta-led consumer electronics brand boAt is reportedly planning to soon file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offering via the confidential filing route.

The audio products and smartwatch maker is likely to launch its IPO in the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26), with plans to raise INR 2,000 Cr (around $231 Mn), CNBC-TV18 reported.

Earlier, it was reported that boAt would target a valuation exceeding $1.5 Bn for its IPO and had onboarded three bankers to helm the public issue.

Notably, this is boAt’s second attempt to go public. In 2022, the Delhi NCR-based company filed its DRHP with SEBI for INR 2,000 Cr IPO. The markets regulator greenlit the IPO in May 2022. 

However, the startup later pulled the plug on its IPO plans with cofounder and chief marketing officer (CMO) Gupta saying in 2023 that boAt was not in a rush to go for an IPO for the “next couple of years”.

In June last year, Sameer Mehta, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of boAt, said the startup would only go public after achieving profitability in FY25.

Founded in 2016 by Sameer Mehta and Gupta, boAt is a major player in the Indian audio and wearables segment. Besides audio products and smartwatches, it sells mobile accessories such as chargers, cables, and power banks.

It has raised over $176 Mn in funding to date and counts the likes of Qualcomm Ventures and Warburg Pincus among its investors.

boAt’s operating revenue fell over 7% to INR 3,117.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 3,376.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year, with its wearables category taking a major hit. However, despite a degrowth in its top line, the company managed to narrow its consolidated net loss by over 38% to INR 79.7 Cr during the year from INR 129.4 Cr in FY23.

boAt’s public listing plans come at a time when new-age tech companies are making a beeline to list on Indian exchanges. Earlier this week, fintech giant PhonePe kicked off preparations for its IPO, though it did not disclose details like size, valuation and timeline.

In 2024, 13 startups made their stock market debut and raised a combined INR 29,070 Cr via their IPOs. The startup IPO wave is expected to continue this year too, with more than 20 new-age tech companies like Razorpay, Zepto, Pine Labs, IndiQube, among others, looking to go public.

The ongoing startup IPO boom is also driving the trend of ‘reverse flip’ in the Indian startup ecosystem. Earlier this year, quick commerce unicorn Zepto shifted its corporate headquarters back to India ahead of its $1 Bn IPO and impending public listing. The likes of Eruditus, Razorpay and Mensa Brands are also mulling a ‘desh wapsi’.