When boAt first floated its IPO plans in September 2021, it was aiming to raise close to INR 3,500 Cr. The plan was shelved eventually as market conditions soured. The Aman Gupta-founded company was loss-making then, its dependency on imports was too heavy and global markets were about to tumble after the highs of the zero interest rate fiscal policy.

Earlier this week, when boAt filed its pre-IPO papers again, it came with far more tempered expectations. The electronics maker is looking to raise INR 1,500 Cr from the market, and more importantly, it is a business that’s trending towards profitable growth.

Like many other new-age listings, boAt is coming to terms with market reality — much like Urban Company and Lenskart before it. The profitability is certainly a notch in its cap.

What were the key decisions that led the company to this point? And can the streak of profits continue after the listing?

boAt’s Make In India Journey

boAt began as a consumer audio brand in 2015, offering affordable wired and wireless earphones, headphones, and speakers. Over time, it diversified into smartwatches, chargers, trimmers, power banks, and other small electronics.

Having built its base and early scale through imports from China and Vietnam, boAt’s focus in the past three years has been on increasing its domestic manufacturing presence, and becoming a leaner company. This has been a key strategic decision that has led to profits.

It was only after the pandemic that boAt realised it was overburdening itself with SKUs. Operating in a price-sensitive market like India meant that boAt had to cater to the masses with multiple SKUs. The import-reliant business could only have worked if boAt showed enough sales volume.

But as competition grew and as the SKU build-up resulted in quality issues and counterfeits, boAt was forced to rethink its approach. It decided to shed the number of products it offered and focussed heavily on localisation of the components used in its products and domestic manufacturing.

In 2022, about 90% of its products were........

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