Boult IPO likely to be next year: Co-founder Varun Gupta

Boult, an Indian consumer tech brand, is gearing up to go public in the upcoming year, targeting a revenue milestone of Rs 1,000 crore in FY25.

Co-founder Varun Gupta revealed in an exclusive interview with PTI that the company's expansion into international markets and new product categories is fueling this ambition. Gupta outlined his vision to elevate the Indian brand to a global scale, emphasising the ambitious targets set for the current fiscal year.

"We are not focusing on IPO this year, our primary focus is to foray into offline markets, international geographies, and new categories, but possibly in the next year," he said.

Gupta said the company has set an internal touchstone for itself before it goes public.

"... We have an internal benchmark, when we hit a Rs 1,000 crore revenue, that's when we want to go for an IPO. Technically, we're eligible to go for an IPO today because we're profitable and comfortably over Rs 500 crore. But we have an internal milestone of Rs 1,000 crore, and that is when we will consider ourselves eligible for that (IPO)," Gupta said.

He further said the bootstrapped brand expects to close the financial year 2023-24 at a touchdown of Rs 650-700 crore.

"In FY25, we're looking at a Rs 1,000 crore target, a very reasonable target because of our foray into new categories, because of our growing presence in our TWS (True Wireless Stereo), which is the biggest category for us. And thirdly, getting offline as a channel and thereby international channels," he said.

Boult recently launched a new category—Soundbars—to further diversify market offerings.

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Last October, the company which competes with peers such as boAt and Noise, extended its presence to offline retail outlets. According to Gupta, the aim is to ensure accessibility and availability at 20,000 points of sale nationwide, providing customers with access, availability, and credibility. Gupta emphasised the importance of offline presence, noting that customers perceive products showcased in physical stores as more credible.

"We're proud of the fact that we have penetrated every state in India and are live at over 4,000 points of sales."

Marking its debut globally, Boult Audio tapped into the US and UK markets in May 2023, and in January 2024, it set foot in Nepal. It received great responses from all the geographies, the young entrepreneur said.

"Right from the beginning, our vision was to make in India, for the world. We wanted to make a global brand out of India, to change the worldwide narrative of India by creating a top technology brand, and to make the nation proud. The plan forward is to foray into Europe, Australia, and thereafter Africa as well," he said.

The company plans to launch in Europe by July 2024, in Australia post-Diwali, and Africa within the first half of 2025.

Emphasising the brand's focus on Make in India, Gupta said "99% of the products that we sell in India are manufactured and assembled in India."

"We are the only firm that does 100% in-house product designing. I am an artist myself, and so I work with the design team. I work on the colour, material, finish, overall presentation of the product, and ergonomics, everything is done in-house. That's why when you look at our products, you'll see a huge amount of differentiation and uniqueness," he said.

Boult currently has a manufacturing facility in Delhi and is setting up another in Gurgaon.

The company has roped in actor Saif Ali Khan and cricketer Suryakumar Yadav as brand ambassadors, however, it doesn't believe in spending a fortune on marketing.

"We don't have heavy pockets or deep investment money to splurge money into marketing because we're a bootstrapped firm. For us, the product is the hero. The product is something that creates an impact.

"We've maintained a certain price point and immensely greater product quality than our competition. That is our core, and the reason why we have over two million ratings, and the highest repeat purchases in the category," Gupta said.

Talking about Boult's biggest competitors, Gupta said they are more of a mass brand.

"We have positioned ourselves as a mass tech or a mass premium brand. Our price points are on average about 10 per cent higher. We don't want to get into a race for market share and thereby keep on dropping prices and cutting corners in terms of the product and customer experience.

The founder acknowledged boAt as Boult's biggest competitor. In the smartwatch segment, he named Noise, Firebolt, and boAt.

"International competitors are not really a phenomenon. In 2024, along with my competition, I'm proud of the fact that we've together taken about 80% of the market," he said.