Warburg Pincus puts $100 million in Indian consumer electronics firm boAt

BENGALURU (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus has invested about $100 million in India's boAt, the consumer electronics firm said on Wednesday.

BoAt, known for its budget-friendly bluetooth speakers and wireless earbuds, was last valued at nearly $283 million after a $59.6 million funding round in December, according to PitchBook data.

Personal electronics products like headphones have seen a revival in sales since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with homebound users looking for means to aid their remote work and to keep themselves entertained.

During the third quarter of 2020, boAt captured a market share of 32.4% in the earwear category in India, according to IDC data.

The company, whose products compete with JBL and Realme, had an annual revenue of 7.01 billion Indian Rupees ($95.86 million), as of March 2020.

 

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)