Indian consumer electronics brand boAt’s parent firm – Imagine Marketing, has reportedly filed draft papers for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). According to a report by PTI, the company preferred the confidential pre-filing route this time. It is important to note that filing through this method does not obligate the company to proceed with the IPO.
Meanwhile, the report suggests that Imagine Marketing is targeting a valuation of over $1.5 billion for its ₹500 crore IPO. Notably, this marks Imagine Marketing’s second attempt to go public. In January 2022, the company filed for a ₹2,000 crore IPO, which included a fresh issue of ₹900 crore and an offer for sale of ₹1,100 crore by existing shareholders.
However, that plan was postponed due to unfavourable market conditions. Instead, the company secured $60 million in private capital through convertible preferred stock notes from existing investor Warburg Pincus and new investor Malabar Investments, at a minimum valuation cap of around $1.2 billion.
Interestingly, this latest move comes at a problematic time because the market for wearable devices in India is slowing down. According to IDC India’s stats, wearable device shipments in India fell by 8.7% year-on-year in Q4 2024, with only 25.9 million units shipped during the period.
Founded in 2016, boAt has emerged as a leading homegrown direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand in the earphones and wearables market. However, despite holding a significant market share in India and becoming the top smart wearable brand with a 32% share in Q3 2024, boAt is still facing financial challenges.
While the company managed to cut its net loss by over 38% year-on-year to ₹79.7 crore in FY24, its revenue declined by more than 7% to ₹3,117.7 crore for the same period. Interestingly, the major drop came from international markets, where revenue fell nearly 89% to ₹13.8 crore in FY24 from ₹122.6 crore in FY23. Even, domestic sales also dropped to ₹3,101.2 crore from ₹3,239 crore. Notably, this company counts Warburg Pincus, Qualcomm, InnoVen Capital, and Fireside Ventures among its investors.
The drop in revenue numbers may denote the rising competition in the market, as boAt faces increasing pressure from both domestic and global players. Companies like Noise, Fire-Boltt, and Boult are rapidly expanding in the affordable wearables and audio segment, directly competing with boAt in its core market. At the same time, global giants like Apple, Samsung, and others continue to dominate the premium and mid-range segments. The scenario becomes noteworthy considering the Indian wearable technology market (which reached $2.37 billion in 2024) is projected to surpass $9.03 billion by 2033.
