Titan Co. Ltd. is Tata Group’s watch and jewelry retailing giant. The company had announced yesterday (07/11/2017) that it has invested US $ 3 to 5 million (Rs. 19.5 to Rs. 32.5 crores) in the Singapore – based wearable technology startup CoveIoT. The startup will use the funds for product development, research and analytics according to sources working for the startup. Read more on Investments
CoveIoT is a smart tech and Internet of Things (IoT) based startup that enables companies to produce smart products. The startup employs smart technology to enable products to have GPS tracking, online payments and monitoring health and fitness features. The startup is run by KaHa Pvt. Ltd. and has its branch offices in Geneva in Switzerland, Shenzhen in China and Bengaluru in India. This investment in CoveIoT is part of Titan’s plans to expand its presence in the smartwatch, wearable and IoT sectors. However, data has shown that Indian consumers are not very keen on smartwatches and IoT based products.
“Indian shoppers are interested in smartphones but not too much in smart watches. The domestic smartwatch market is contributing to less than 1% of the global market. Breaking the price barrier in the price sensitive market is a challenge. It is a big consumer market and requires a thorough understanding to create a good value proposition”, said Pavel Naiya, senior research analyst at CoveIoT.
Titan had invested in quite a few startups. They include the online jewelry retailing startup, Caratlane.com, in which Titan had invested Rs. 357 crores and got 62% stake in Series A round of funding during July, last year (2016). Titan had also invested Rs. 100 crores in Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) during May, last year (2016). Read more on Startup News
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