India’s boAt gets Qualcomm as investor for a global consumer electronics scale-up - Android

boAt, a company that emerged out of nowhere and took the Indian market by storm, has gone on to become one of the most successful startups in the country, thanks to its quality products and affordable prices.  Thus, everyone wants a piece of this pie, and who better to talk about the hardware game than Qualcomm- the company that powers almost all Android phones? Qualcomm’s investment arm Qualcomm Ventures has invested in boAt at an undisclosed valuation, marking a partnership that can go on to revolutionize the Indian hardware market.

boAt was started in 2016 in a market where people still tend to squeeze the most out of their hardware. Indians are generally known to not pay exorbitant prices for their electronic goods, and thus, boAt and India was a match made in heaven. The company offered premium grade products at super affordable prices, and as more and more people got onto the digital India wave, boAt’s business bloomed.

Qualcomm, on the other hand, is an industry giant, and its Snapdragon processors are featured in almost all Android phones on the market. India, being an Android led market, is a huge market for the manufacturing giant, and this partnership with boAt may help it expand its presence in the country even more.

For boAt, Qualcomm can bring a ton of expertise and help it refine its products even more.

“As boAt enters the next phase of growth and innovation, we look forward to building a relationship with Qualcomm to deepen our R&D capabilities and further augment our efforts to manufacture products in India,” said Sameer Mehta, co-founder of boAt. “We believe this relationship will contribute to greater technology collaboration, quicker deployment, and refining of product portfolio across price points.”

The company plans to use these fund to expand its product portfolio across geographies and solidify its research and development (R&D) and manufacturing capabilities.

Moreover, Qualcomm wants to help boAt expands its presence in other countries as well, and not limit its products to the Indian populace.

Rajen Vagadia, VP and President at Qualcomm India and SAARC, said: “As a technology enabler and an investor with a long-standing presence in India, we look forward to being part of boAt’s growth and powering its vision of delivering world-class products to consumers, not just for India but for supporting their vision of global expansion.”

This comes after boAt secured a $100Mn investment during its Series B funding round in January this year.