Failed 5 Startups, Rejected By Banks, Now Built ₹10500 Cr. Worth Company, boAt.
boAt, an audio equipment and electronic gadgets manufactured company, founded by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta. Back in 2016, boAt was established in Haryana with the vision of making a lifestyle brand that enhances the quality of life through audio and wearables.
boAt’s success story began when Aman found a significant gap, noticing that many people are struggling with the durability of audio equipment and electronic gadgets.
It comes under the industry of both the electronics and audio equipment. According to a report by ibef.org, the headset market in India is booming as a result of increased consumer use of wireless headphones and is expected to rise to $77 million USD.
The appliance and consumer electronics business is expected to double by 2025 to Rs. 1.48 lakh crore (US$ 21.18 billion). According to the Retailers Association of India (RAI), consumer electronics and appliances sales increased by 23.5 percent in the third quarter of FY21 as compared to the same period the previous fiscal year.
The country's electronic hardware output surged from Rs. 4.43 trillion (US$ 72.38 billion) in FY19 to Rs. 5.47 trillion (US$ 89.38 billion) in FY2020. India's demand for electronic devices is expected to surpass $400 billion by FY24.
India's consumer digital economy is predicted to reach US$ 800 billion by 2030, up from US$ 85-90 billion in CY20, due to a rise in online purchases.
boAt: India’s largest wearable brand
boAt is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta in 2016. It offers affordable, durable, and fashionable electronic gadgets and audio-centric devices, like wireless speakers, earbuds, wired and wireless headphones, earphones, and many other technological accessories.
Know more about Wearables Startups in India for 2025.
boAt’s Business Model & Strategy:
boAt’s business model completely focuses on what their customer wants. boAt works with a D2C model and makes sure that its goods are affordable and durable. boAt’s team has been prepared in such a way that they devote themselves to business by reading human behavior. They focus on developing a customer-brand relationship and creating products that are fashionable and affordable for Indians.
boAt’s Growth:
One of the businesses in the electronic and audio sectors with the fastest rate of growth in recent years is boAt. The company, valued at Rs 10,500 crore, has prospered in the industry, growing from Rs 704 crore in FY20 to Rs 1531 crore in FY21. boAt generated Rs 1511.7 Cr in operating revenue and Rs 19.57 Cr in other revenue in FY21. According to reports, boAt's EBITA for FY21 was Rs 1271.1 Cr.
boAt’s Future Plan:
Currently, boAt wants to create more and more products in order to provide durable and reasonably priced electronic devices. He aspires to assist Indians in acquiring all of the best technological tools.
Looking to the future, boAt aims to strengthen its position as a leader in this electronic gadgets industry. He states, “Har industry ka ek gundahota h, aur is industry kagundamaihu.”
Aman Gupta Founder of boAt
Aman Gupta is an Indian entrepreneur, angel investor judge, and investor in Sony TV's business reality show, Shark Tank India. The journey of Aman Gupta has been both challenging and empowering. Around 15 years have been to this journey, from CA to entrepreneur, in which he struggled with challenges, rejections, and failure; however, his positive attitude led this man to build a Rs 10,500 crore-worth company.
Aman Gupta’s Early Life & Education:
Aman Gupta was born on March 4, 1982, in Delhi. He completed his schooling at the prestigious Delhi Public School (DPS) R.K. Puram. Later, he graduated in a B.com course at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Delhi University. Aman was encouraged by his father for CA qualification. In 2002, at the age of 20, he completed his CA, but he was not happy with what he was doing. This was the point from where his challenging and learning journey had started.
Aman Gupta’s Family:
He comes from a middle-class family, where his father is Neeraj Gupta and his mother is Jyoti Kochar, a housewife. PriyaDagar is Aman Gupta's wife, and he has two daughters, Mia Gupta and Adaa Gupta.
Aman Gupta’s CA to Entrepreneurial Journey:
After completing his chartered accounting qualification, Aman began his professional career, working at Citibanks, where he served as an assistant manager from 2002 to 2005. During this time, he felt like something was missing in life and wanted to do something big and interesting, but he was unable to find that one.
But he quit his job and, in September 2005, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey by co-founding Advanced Telemedia Pvt. Ltd. with his father, playing the role of CEO. But this business was not as successful as they thought because they had to face many challenges. During this challenging period, Aman Gupta found himself unable to address the issues at hand. Identifying this weakness, he made the decision to enhance his skills by pursuing further studies.
In 2010, he enrolled in the MBA program at the Indian School of Business at the age of 29, focusing on strategy and finance. He also took part in an exchange program at the university as part of his studies. Additionally, he studied general management marketing during an exchange program at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Aman obtained valuable expertise in sales and consulting after earning his MBA. From 2011 to 2012, he served as a senior management consultant for KPMG. From 2012 to 2013, he was the director of sales for HAPMAN International.
Aman had always had a desire in his heart to do something different.After working 2 years, he again found a gap in the audio industry, quit his job, and decided to change the game, turning this gap into an opportunity. In 2016, Aman embarked on his entrepreneurial journey, launching his startup, boAt.
Challenges faced by Aman Gupta:
Most of the BoAt products are made in China with third-party manufacturers, and in 2020, due to the India-China dispute and COVID-19, the companies are facing many issues in importing the products from China. So to solve this issue, under the PLI scheme, they have set up a 50:50 joint venture with Dixon Technologies to manufacture some boAt products in India.
But even this will not resolve the issue in the short term as it is costly to manufacture in India, and even by 2024, around 50% of the BoAt products will be made in China.
Aman also faced challenges during the journey of entrepreneurship and took them as learning. Finally, he embarked on his new chapter, launching boAt.