Wearable devices maker GOQii Inc has raised around $30-35 funds led by Japan’s Mitsui & Co. at a valuation of $100-125 million, as the Menlo Park and Mumbai-based company plans to enter overseas markets over the next 12-18 months.
Read more Fitbit Faces A Tough Road Ahead in India’s Growing Wearables Market
New investors Galaxy Digital and Denlow Investment Trust also participated in the round along with a long list of existing investors such as DSG Consumer Partners, NEA, Edelweiss Financial Services and Cheetah Mobile, Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata.
The money will allow GOQii to foray into overseas markets over the next 12-18 months. The company currently operating in India market, is looking to enter Japan.
GOQii CEO Vishal Gondal said his company is looking to enter Japan next year and would work extensively with Mitsui & Co, an active investor in the broader healthcare space globally, to establish its footprints in Asia’s second-largest economy.
“There will be multiple synergies with the Mitsui Group, within and outside India… We will be working with the different companies in Mitsui Group’s portfolio across India, Japan and Malaysia down the line,” Gondal told ET.
“Japan is a very mature market, along with being one of the largest insurance markets in the world… As part of the deal, we will be working with Mitsui to launch a local chain in Japan,” Gondal said.
Gondal started GOQii as a health wristband company in 2014. Since then he’s deployed a dedicated set of health and lifestyle professionals who can help you achieve your health goals and address your lifestyle-related health issues. It offers subscription models for quarterly and yearly packages, reports ENTRACKR.
The startup, which has over 1 million paid users on its platform, aims to increase its subscriber base by 10X over the next three years.
According to IDC India’s 2018 report, Indian wearables market witnessed growth of 66% year over year and 40% sequentially in the second quarter of 2018.
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In India, basic wearables account for over 85% of the total number of shipments. Fitbit has close to a 60% market share of the health and fitness trackers in India and more than 80% of the market for devices priced above $100. In the affordable segment, GOQii is the overall leader in the Indian wearable market followed by China’s Xiaomi, which has Mui Band for India market.
