Imagine Marketing Private Limited (parent company of boAt) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Singapore based KaHa Pte Ltd, an end-to-end smart IoT product development company. The acquisition will enable Imagine Marketing to augment its wearable product offerings in terms of the concept, design, electronic firmware, algorithm development, Android/ iOS applications, new feature integration, social engagement and analytics, and lead the way by creating a vibrant eco-system for the Indian consumer. This acquisition is expected to allow Imagine Marketing to scale up its smart and holistic wellness wearables platform, and further innovate to come up with features with the Indian consumer in mind.
Founded in 2015, KaHa has capabilities in developing products in the IoT space and has a technology-focused platform for wearables through patented AI and ML capabilities, end-to-end smart wearable solutions (hardware and software), and data-driven smart IoT platforms, providing solutions and analytics for multiple use cases. It has its operations across Singapore, India and China. KaHa Pte Ltd has a patented and encrypted technology stack and has applied for over 30 patents It also has over 90 dedicated professionals and domain experts. The company has received the prestigious Clarivate award for Innovation for two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. The acquisition is expected to augment IMPL’s capabilities to introduce technologically advanced products and shorten the lead time to have an ecosystem play in the wearables and IoT segment.
The wearables (smartwatch and activity bands) market in India is expected to grow more than 10X to ~USD 2-4bn in size by 2025 from around ~USD 0.2bn in size in 2018. Within a year of launch, the brand boAt has become one of the leading players in this category and has become one of the top 2 players in the smartwatch category with over 20% market share. Imagine Marketing aims to participate in a broader lifestyle-oriented play in India’s wearables ecosystem, driven by consumers’ rising health consciousness and need for convenience.
Imagine Marketing has been increasing its R&D focus through boAt Labs with a dedicated 25+ member team having expertise in various elements of the development of audio and wearable devices. Imagine Marketing’s understanding of consumer and category landscape combined with KaHa Pte Ltd.’s strong IoT expertise will help create smart products with a holistic wellness focus that improve the quality of life of consumers. The acquisition is expected to increase Imagine Marketing’s product offering capabilities fueling the next generation IoT enabled smart wearables that are more versatile, personalized and affordable.
“We are passionate about providing a compelling value proposition to our wide audience of young, digitally-enabled, and trend-conscious consumers by offering a portfolio of well-designed and distinctive lifestyle-oriented products, indigenized and offered at attractive prices. With chronic lifestyle diseases on a rise, consumers are getting increasingly conscious of their ways of living. Wearable devices that help track activities monitor sleep patterns, health indicators and calories burn are therefore gaining popularity with consumers with an active lifestyle to keep them healthy and fit. Our acquisition of KaHa, a technology-focused platform for wearables through patented AI and ML capabilities will capture all aspects including vitals, fitness, social and mental health along with providing lifestyle features like gamification, enabling payments etc. By leveraging KaHa’s capabilities, we will be able to create a smart wearables ecosystem with powerful functionality at affordable prices that truly benefit the consumers.” said Sameer Mehta, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Imagine Marketing Pvt. Ltd.
Pawan Gandhi, CEO and Co-founder of KaHa Pte Ltd, said “We are delighted to become part of the boAt family. Our DNA lies in cutting edge product development and building smart IoT products that solve consumer problems. We look forward to working with the boAt team to make wearable technology an enriching and life-changing part of the consumer’s everyday life and building a vibrant wearables ecosystem”
