We are doing well even without an IPO

boAt sales doubled in FY22. What factors helped you achieve those numbers?

We’re not a fly-by-night supplier, we make products that cater to the Indian customers, so it’s a magic combination of the right product for the right consumer that worked for us.

boAt has conquered the Indian market well, what about expanding presence in international markets?

People often tell us why we don’t search outside of India, but for us, India itself is such a big opportunity that we can’t see outside of India for now.

Nobody expected an Indian brand to become the top brand in the world. boAt is now the second largest wearables brand in the world, which is a proud feeling for us.

If you look at the smartwatch market, which is our next big frontier, it’s growing even more. In fact, I believe that India will become the world’s largest smart watch market in the coming period, so we are currently focusing on domestic growth.

What has been the most difficult moment for you at boAt so far? How do you manage to stay the course despite ups and downs?

Challenges are always there, only the nature of the challenges keeps changing.

If you ask me how I stay grounded, well there are people around me who keep me grounded. I can’t be changed as a person, staying humble is a core belief I practice and stemmed from my middle-class upbringing. There’s a fine line between attitude and arrogance, and I hope I never cross that line.

What big changes are happening in the startup ecosystem?

The era of free money is over, the time of unprofitable and unsustainable companies is over. However, if you have a good product company, there is still money available. People may refer to the current startup scenario as a funding winter, but we still managed to raise Rs 500 crore in funds.

In October of last year, the company delayed its public share sale plans amid ongoing concerns about the volatile stock market. What’s your plan?

We just got fresh funds and it would be a tear or two when the markets are in a better position for us to look at that. We’re also growing our wearables business, and there will be levers for growth on all sides. Honestly, we’re in no hurry as we don’t need those funds, so we’re fine without going public.