Bose-Backed Noise Acquires SocialBoat To Develop AI For Wearables

Gurugram-based audio products and wearable startup Noise has acquired AI startup SocialBoat to bolster the AI-powered fitness and health features for its wearable devices.

The details of the deal remain undisclosed now.

This strategic move is part of Noise’s broader strategy around building health-specific innovation for its smart ring wearable Luna.

“SocialBoat got acquired by Noise and I would be leading the development of the Luna Ring – a high precision smart ring that tracks and analyses over 70 bio-markers all day,” Swapnil Vats, founder of SocialBoat, said in a Linkedln post.

Founded in 2022, SocialBoat leveraged AI tools to solve problems and provide data-driven insights related to menstrual health, PCOS, thyroid issues among other concerns. In January last year, SocialBoat raised $200K in an angel funding round led by Plan B Capital, and a slew of angels.

Leveraging OpenAI’s GPT tool, SocialBoat developed Sakhi, a generative AI chatbot to help women get answers to health and hygiene-related questions.

As part of the acquisition, Swapnil Vats, cofounder and CEO of SocialBoat, has joined Noise’s innovation team. His experience in leveraging AI in the wellness domain will help Noise elevate Luna Ring’s advanced health and fitness metrics, the company claimed.

Powered by large language models, particularly OpenAi’S GPT-4o, Luna AI is trained on an expansive dataset comprising over 20 million Noise users, totaling more than 1 Bn lines of data, Vats claimed.

“We firmly believe that this strategic acquisition will propel innovation in Luna Ring. Luna Ring was launched to transform the lives of users profoundly and in our commitment to nurturing the Luna ecosystem, we recently brought AI to Luna Ring, becoming the first brand to enable smart rings with AI. We will continue to take steps to further enhance the overall smart wearable experience,” Noise cofounder Amit Khatri said.

It can ingest user data throughout the day and offer guidance akin to a fitness coach and analyst when required.

Founded by Amit Khatri and Gaurav Khatri in 2014, Noise initially sold smartphone cases and accessories. Later, it pivoted to selling smart wearables and wireless headphones. Noise directly competes with Indian brands such as boAt as well as a slew of international players in the audio and wearables space.

Last year, Noise bagged a strategic investment from global consumer electronics giant Bose as part of its Series A round after remaining bootstrapped for more than nine years. The round valued the company at $400 Mn as per Inc42’s analysis.

Noise reported a 39.4X decline in its net profit — INR 88 Lakh in FY23 (as of March 2023), from INR 35 Cr in the previous fiscal, driven by a sharp rise in expenses.

Operating revenue of the wearable devices and smartphone accessories brand jumped 1.8X to INR 1,426 Cr in FY23 from INR 792 Cr in FY22. Total income jumped 1.8X to INR 1,432 Cr in FY23 from INR 800 Cr in FY22.