Sports technology company Boltt marked their entry into India last year. In just eight months, the company is prepared to roll out their offerings in the Indian and US markets. Targeting the health conscious people, Boltt is launching their wearable bands, smart shoes and sensors.
When asked how the wearable fitness band will be different from others who are already available in the market, Kishore, co-founder of Boltt, said, “Our product not only tracks all the activities of the user, but also guides them with in-depth information. The inbuilt AI (artificial intelligence) helps the user as a virtual assistance. It’ll interact and give coaching to users on what and how to do next.”
The company is also tying up with one of the leading e-commerce players in the country to offer their products. This wearable tech company is eyeing a revenue of Rs.50 crore for the financial year 2017-18 and for 2018-19, the company is targeting Rs.120 crore in India, including their software and hardware sales.
Hardware versus softwareBoltt is primarily betting big on their software. The company’s current priority is to get maximum revenue from the application downloads. Though the application is free, some of the prominent coaching suggestions in the app will be paid. “For us, the Boltt application is the secret sauce,” Kishore said.
‘Make any shoe smart’ is the tag line for the shoes. Boltt is not only trying to offer their signature products, but are also targeting the brand-conscious customers to make their shoe smart by enabling the sensor into any shoes which will make it a smart shoe.
The wearable tech company is expecting one million downloads in the first six months. “One million downloads will turn into 40 per cent sale of hardware goods,” she added.
It will also be launched in the US and available across all channels similarly to India.
Forthcoming phasesIn the first phase, Boltt is going heavily with their digital presence in the market. Tying up with e-commerce platforms and their own websites. In the second phase, it will tie up multi-retail chains to showcase their products. In the third phase, Boltt will open their own exclusive stores across India. The timeline of these phases is three to four months each.
Kishore said she is looking for customers from across the country and not from any particular city. She believes initially metro cities will drive the sales and non-metros will catch up.
Boltt is riding on the subscription revenue model of their application along with bundle offer for their hardware products such as shoes, sensors and wearable. Kishore suggests that their tech wearable company will not restrict to shoes. “We will enable all other fashion with technology,” she said.
In the last 18 months, Boltt has spent around one million dollars for their research and development. In the upcoming months, it is planning to reach out to all those customers who sees the value proposition in the products.
BW Reporters
The author is a journalist with BW Businessworld. He primarily covers Retail, Media & Entertainment and Travel & Tourism sectors
