[ad_1]
French start-up Devialet has raised a new $50 million (€50 million) round of funding from two existing investors – Crédit Mutuel Equity and BPFrance large venture fund – and a new, mysterious Asian investor. Devialet does not want to share the name of this new investor. All I know is that it is an industrial company in China.
This round of funding is significant as startup funding has dwindled in France in recent months – as in other European markets. A funding round is a traditional investment round to exchange equity in a company – no debt component. Devialet doesn’t share the company’s valuation – but it’s higher than its predecessor.
If you’re not familiar with Devialet, the startup designs high-end speakers of all sizes and shapes. The company’s flagship product is the Phantom I speaker. With this egg-shaped speaker, Devialet’s engineering team promises no background noise, saturation and no distortion thanks to its proprietary speaker technology.
The result is an extremely capable speaker starting at $2,300. When you turn it on, it feels like a really big speaker – it can get really loud. This speaker is versatile as it supports AirPlay, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect and UPnP.
Later, Devialet expanded into other products and markets. In the year In 2019, the company released a smaller speaker, the Phantom Reactor, now called the Phantom II.
Coming to new product categories, the company has released a pair of headphones and a sound bar for your TV. Especially with the Devialet Dion soundbar, the company has big goals. There are probably more people looking to buy a home theater setup than audiophiles looking for speakers that cost thousands of dollars.
In addition to Devialet’s own products, the startup has licensing divisions for audio technology and patents. In the past few years, it has collaborated with Sky, Iliad, Altice USA and Huawei to release devices with Devialet brand speakers.
With today’s funding, the company plans to double down on its international market and licensing strategy. For example, in the past three years, Devialet has opened six stores in China, five in South Korea, and several stores in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Three of the top five markets are now in Asia. While Devialet is a relatively niche brand, the company is reporting double-digit growth.
“Our continued partnership with both Crédit Mutual Equity and BPFrance demonstrates our clear confidence in our business strategy and the unique technologies developed by our engineers,” Devialet CEO said in a statement. “Meanwhile, as we continue to build our licensing strategy, the participation of our new partners in the Asian market will be of great value, and will provide ample opportunities to further build Devialet’s presence in Asia.”
[ad_2]
Source link
