Exclusive: Bose doubles down on Noise with $20 Mn investment

After entering the Indian wearables and hearables space with a strategic investment in Noise in 2023, Bose Corporation has made a fresh investment of Rs 172 crore ($20 million) in the gadget and wearable brand. This marks the second funding round for the Gurugram-based company since its inception.

The board at Noise has passed a special resolution to issue 4,915 compulsory convertible debentures at an issue price of Rs 3,45,833 each to raise Rs 172 crore or $20 million, its regulatory filing sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows.

The issued debentures will carry a nominal interest rate of 0.001% and will eventually be converted into equity shares at a later stage. The company plans to utilize the funds to cover operational expenses, expand, enhance brand visibility, meet working capital needs, and support other business activities as approved by the board, the filing added.

According to Entrackr’s estimates, the latest investment comes in as a flat round, valuing the company at $470 million — a slight uptick from its Series A valuation of $460 million.

For the uninitiated, Bose is the only external investor in Noise.

Noise sells smartwatches, wireless earphones, and speakers through e-commerce platforms and its own website. The company also holds a major share of the smartwatch market. The fresh investment from Bose follows a major product milestone: Noise’s launch of an audio device powered by “Sound by Bose.”

Noise reported a revenue of Rs 1,431 crore with EBITDA profitability for the fiscal year ending March 2024. It competes with the consumer electronics brand boAt, which recently filed DRHP with the Securities Exchange Board of India under the confidential route. boAt reported Rs 3,122 crore of revenue during FY24 with a 45% reduction in losses to Rs 53.5 crore in the same period.