Wearables from Chennai

Until India has the ecosystem to manufacture its own batteries and chips, mobile accessories and wearable products such as smart watches will continue to be imported from China and Taiwan."Whoever is saying they are manufacturing today, they are only assembling. Until we get the capability to make our own batteries and ICs (integrated circuits), we can only assemble or manufacture a few products. Now the govt is pushing companies to increase the percentage of local manufacturing through restrictions and we welcome it," says Prasanth Chordia, founder and CEO, Hapipola, a bootstrapped startup founded in 2018.Coming from a family of financiers for gold and silver traders, Chordia says he never had an interest in that business. His focus was electronics and he entered the industry in 2013 with guidance from his uncle to trade in back covers, temper glass and displays for mobiles. He soon shifted focus to "cases and covers" for mobiles. He covered 26 brands, including top-end Lamborghini and Ducati mobiles, and it soon became a pan-India business."Sometime in 2017-18, there was a phase where every seven days, there were 10-20 different models coming in. We faced a huge loss in the back cover segment. We were not able to sell stock because models were discontinued as soon as they were launched. We shifted focus to mobile accessories and, in 2018, founded Hapipola," he says.Chordia, a business graduate, shared an interest in electronics with a friend's younger brother, Kancharla Sai Kiran, an engineering graduate. They co-founded Hapipola. "From cases and covers, we transformed it into an electronics brand with focus on mobile accessories and later added lifestyle products. By the time Covid ended, we had 25 products under our brand. Today, we have 180 products and these are available across south India through about 100 leading chains such as Vasanth & Co and Poorvika.Now we are focused on expanding to Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha. We will end this fiscal with a turnover of 60 crore to 70 crore," says Chordia.At present, the company manufactures only 2-3 products in Chennai, since batteries have to be imported, mostly from China. "We are currently manufacturing power banks, neck bands and bluetooth speakers in Chennai using a 6,000 sqft facility. The remaining products come from China and Taiwan, based on inputs from our design team, which is based in Hong Kong," he says.The company is transforming from a mobile accessories brand to a lifestyle brand by adding products such as electric mops and vacuum cleaners. All battery-operated and cordless units available at pocket-friendly prices. It is set to add a range of portable hand blenders to its portfolio and later add massage products. It already offers a range of keyboards and mouses as well as travel bags.With govt pushing companies to manufacture products in India, Hapipola recently acquired 1.5 acres for a full-fledged manufacturing facility near Kalpakkam. "This industry is unique in the sense no one manufactures everything on Day One. We have to understand the nitty gritty and slowly expand manufacturing. We too have come to a level to manufacture 10 products now. For ICs and batteries, we don't have an Indian option and these are core components.The new facility will start off with manufacturing capabilities for 10-15 products," adds Chordia.The new manufacturing facility will have cold storage for batteries, dedicated lines for products and a proper e-waste disposal area. "We had supplied to two OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) earlier but eventually they thought importing was a lot cheaper. With the new facility, we will again supply products to various brands since many have approached us for supplies," adds Chordia.