Online fashion e-tailer and Flipkart owned Myntra has taken over a technology startup that is engaged in the business of wearables. The value of the transaction has, however, not been disclosed.
The startup, Witworks Consumer Technologies Pvt. Limited, makes smart watches and the technology that runs these wearable devices. After the formalities are completed, the staff of Witworks will become part of Innovative Labs, Flipkart’s arm that is meant to work on new product ideas. Flipkart will now aim at launching its own range of wearables, smart shoes and interactive/intelligent clothing and so on. These will be based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology that Witworks has been already working on. Blink Watch is the brand under which the company has launched its smart watch. The operating system, Marvin OS is also the creation of Witworks as are a couple of other products.
The early stage investors in the company include Fireside Ventures, Investopad and P39 Capital, apart from some angel investors. Among them, the Founder of Shadi.com, Anupam Mittal and some senior executives from FoodPanda, Oyo and ITC find mention.
The Witworks acquisition by Myntra comes as part of a series of additions the Flipkart backed company has been making to its portfolio. Some time back, Myntra had entered into an arrangement with Mumbai based 20Dresses.com, an online fashion platform. In this arrangement, a performance-based investment schedule has been agreed upon and the products made by 20Dresses.com would be sold on Myntra and Jabong (also owned by Flipkart) and the sales generated would be the basis for arriving at the yearly induction as capital.
One of the other tech startups that Myntra had acquired, around the same time last year, was InLogg, a logistics firm and prior to that, Cubeit and Native5 were bought.