India has become a hub for startups lately. The country has witnessed exponential growth and a huge shift in the past couple of years in its startup culture. More and more people are turning their ideas into successful homegrown businesses and bringing forth a brand like no other.
One such homegrown brand that has taken the nation by storm is of Fire-Boltt. Arnav Kishore, who is the CEO & Founder of Fire-Boltt, came up with the idea to launch his own smart band company along with his sister Aayushi.
‘Fire-Boltt’: How It Began
Fire-Boltt was launched in 2015 by a brother-sister duo, Arnav & Aayushi. The siblings came from a family of entrepreneurs and hence had a knack for understanding of how a business is run.
Their father Mr. Lalit Kishore, has been a great inspiration for the siblings growing up as he played a vital role in bringing big brands like Nike and Lotto to India.
Being brought up in such an environment surely made it evident that they both would turn up to be successful entrepreneurs someday.
To top it all, Arnav has represented the country at the international level in lawn tennis and therefore was a sports enthusiast.
Being a sportsman, Arnav clearly knew how he could cater to people with similar minds and passions and wanted to offer something futuristic and unique for other sports and fitness enthusiasts.
The entrepreneurial genes and sportsmanship led to the foundation of Fire-Boltt.
Arnav & Aayushi, without any further ado, jumped into the market to do their research. Soon they realized that the one thing the market lacked was a homegrown brand that was providing high-quality smartwatches in the affordable price segment.
Smartwatches became all the rage back then and the youth of the nation was inclined towards buying one from global brands but many were unable to do so as the price was really high.
Their thorough research came to the conclusion that the demand for high quality, latest tech smartwatches was high but the price was surely a challenge.
This is when they decided to launch Fire-Boltt!
Without compromising on quality, the duo ensured both their hardware and software pieces were on point.
The means of distribution was also crucial and therefore, Fire-Boltt was available on both online and offline platforms.
Talking about offline, Fire-Boltt currently has over 20,000 points of sales in the market. It is present in 300 cities in the top metros and Tier II and III towns.
As for online channels, the brand has almost 50 percent combined share on eCommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra. In addition, the brand is focusing on its website where it is promising delivery within 48 hours
Struggles On The Way
The duo came up with a brilliant idea to ensure that the brand becomes a hit. They partnered up with top Chinese manufacturers and decided to sell smart bands at an affordable price of Rs1,999.
Other than that, Fire-Boltt was incubated and backed by Savex Technologies, India’s third-largest IT and telecom products distributor based out of Mumbai.
Despite having a massive financial backup, the brand went through a very distressful time when other Chinese electronic companies made their way into the Indian market.
Brands like Xiaomi came with a new wave of affordable smartphones and smart bands and watches and made it difficult for the made-in-India brands to cope.
However, this did not discourage Kishore in any way. When the world went into a frenzy during the pandemic, Kishore decided to take a leap of faith that could make or break his company.
By the end of 2020, Kishore launched Fire-Boltt smartwatches at a starting price range of Rs2,999. Though it was just the beginning, the brand ended up with a market share of 0.3 percent.
As per Aayushi, they have placed their own engineers in both India and China and have hardware and software capabilities in-house.
The brand has developed its own chipset, PCB, and Fire-Boltt OS that power its smartwatches, ensuring quality standards and constant tech upgrades and improvements along the way.
Ruling The Indian Market
Just when the world was coming out of the shock of 2020 and making its way with the new normal, Kishore decided to launch an all-new Ninja series of smartwatches in 2021. The starting range of these watches was set at Rs 1699 which made it even more attractive.
Other than the pricing, the brand renewed and invested well in its marketing strategies. Soon enough, Fire-Boltt was associated with some of the most renowned names in India like Vicky Kaushal, Virat Kohli, Shubhman Gill, Kiara Advani, and Vijay Devrakonda
With calculative and smart choices, Kishore was able to bring the company from 0.3 percent in 2020 to a staggering 11.6 percent in 2021.
To pump things up more, Fire-Boltt has roped in yet another celebrity and this one is going to make a buzz like none other.
As per the recent update from the brand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be leading all the campaigns for the brand along with Vijay Deverakonda, Kiara Advani & Vicky Kaushal.
MS Dhoni is the true spirit of the nation and has inspired us all with his achievements in the field of cricket. From his helicopter shots to the most legendary captaincy, Dhoni has set the bar really high. His fandom has no end and he is loved and followed globally for not only his achievements but for his lifestyle and the brands that he acquaints with.
With him becoming the face of the brand, it will definitely boost up Fire-Boltt’s popularity amongst the youth as well as the other demographics as with Dhoni comes ‘reliability’. Fire-Boltt’s market stance is definitely going to strengthen with this bold and iconic association.
According to the latest data by Counterpoint Research, Fire-Boltt surpassed Noise and emerged as the biggest smartwatch brand in India with a market share of 28 percent. The brand’s growth has been so huge that it’s right behind the industry giants like Apple, Samsung, and Huawei.
As per the founders, Fire-Boltt is self-funded and has a strong financial base but is definitely open to external funding to aid its further growth in the global market.
With their rigorous hard work and smart implementation, in just two years, the brand became the No.1 smartwatch brand in the Indian market & 4th largest smartwatch brand globally.
