Sachin Bansal’s BAC Acquisitions Commits INR 20 Cr To boAT

Electronics maker, boAt has received a commitment of INR 20 Cr (about $2.9 Mn) in venture debt from BAC Acquisitions, which is cofounded by the Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal. 

Commenting on the fundraise, cofounder boAt said, “venture debt definitely helps us keep the capital structure intact. boAt’s financial performance has been strong since inception. Our efficient and lean business model coupled with targeted business insights has allowed the brand to enjoy logical margins so that we can earn money and not burn money.”

 Founded by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta in 2016,  boAt is a consumer tech brand which manufactures electronics products such as earphones, headphones, speakers, sound bars, travel chargers, and premium rugged cables. Its products are made through contract manufacturing in India and China. 

boAt products are available both online (Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal, etc.) and offline (Croma retail, Vijay Sales, Poorvika Mobiles, etc). The company had earlier raised seed funding of INR 6 Cr. (around $872 K) from Fireside Ventures in May 2018. 

boAt claims to have acquired over 1.2 Mn consumers, and is currently selling over 8K units per day at an average of 5 units per minute. It claims to have recorded INR 100 Cr. as gross sales FY18 and is further eyeing INR 500 Cr. in sales over the next few years. 

The current size of India’s music industry is $122.2 Mn (including both physical and digital music platforms), showcases the growing demand for not just production but also on how it will be consumed. For example, income from subscription-based audio streaming stood at a staggering $31.6 Mn in India in 2018, a three-fold growth from subscription-based revenue in 2017.

The music accessory sector is crowded with a number of well-established brands, including popular brands such as Apple, Bose, JBL, Sony and Sennheiser, Indian players like Karbonn, iBall, Intex and MuVu, along with low-cost chinese products.

According to Inc42 DataLabs, with a total of 27 deals securing $111 Mn funding from 2018 to February 2019, the consumer technology sector looks promising. Industry reports state that the market of Indian appliances and consumer electronics (ACE) reached $31.48 Bn (INR 2.05 Tn) in 2017, making the country one of the largest electronics markets in the world. 

The report has further predicted the market to grow at 41% CAGR between 2017-20 and reach $400 Bn. Analysts also forecast that with the rising number of startups such as GenRobotics, SectorQube, boAt and Planys Technologies, the consumer technology sector is set to make a mark in the overall Indian startup industry.