Qubo | Driving Innovation, Enabling Smarter Lifestyle – TelecomDrive

Keeping its focus on delivering meaningful and innovative technology solutions, Qubo is powering products & experiences for its customers which are designed to make lives safer, simpler, more convenient. Qubo is doing this by reimagining and infusing products with technology to amplify capabilities & functionalities that better suit today’s lifestyles.

Nikhil Rajpal, CEO, Hero Electronix speaks with Zia Askari from TelecomDrive.com about the company’s journey so far and its future plans.

What are some of the key focus areas for Qubo today?

Qubo, since its inception, has been at the forefront of cutting-edge technology that powers products & experiences designed to make lives safer, simpler, more convenient – in short, better in every way. Qubo does this by reimagining everyday products – infusing them with technology to amplify their capabilities & functionalities that suit modern-day lifestyles.

With that as the background, Qubo today offers an extensive portfolio of more than 40 SKUs across categories including Smart Home, Connected Auto & Lifestyle Accessories. All of this powered by our proprietary tech including cloud, software, custom developed apps etc. that allows Qubo to deliver a seamless customer experience through an overall ‘smarter lifestyle’. The added benefit of unparalleled data security & privacy that comes along through our own tech stack here is priceless.

While we’re already market leaders in some of the product categories we operate in – including Smart Door Locks, Smart Video Doorbells, Dashcams, Smart Security Cameras; our focus remains identifying more opportunities to enhance consumers’ day-to-day life while continuing to extend our lead within the categories we’re already in. This includes newer products to solve everyday problems or even introducing products at different price points to suit a range of consumers.

Qubo has been in the space for some time now…how has been the market acceptance so far? And what are your plans to take the brand journey ahead?

In a span of just 4 years, Qubo has delivered phenomenal numbers that are testament to the wonderful product market fit it has attained. Growing 3x Y-o-Y, the brand is now clocking an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) upwards of INR 130 crore. At the last count, there are close to 350,000 Qubo devices already out there – in the hands of our customers or installed in their homes & cars. Few smart devices brands in the country can claim such numbers!

Furthermore, by staying true to our Indian roots and embracing the spirit of innovation, Qubo has carved a unique path in the industry. Our Made in India identity has not only helped us gain acceptance but has also become a symbol of trustworthiness for consumers nationwide. We are proud to be a driving force in shaping the future of the industry, setting new standards, and delivering exceptional value to our fellow Indians and our aim going forward is to continue building on the momentum & bring Qubo inside the top 5 million households in the country.

What kind of growth are you looking to achieve and where is this growth going to come from?

We are anticipating even stronger growth in the current financial year – with exciting new launches lined up that marks our foray into newer categories while consolidating our leadership position in the existing ones. Our investments in R&D & team hiring over the past few quarters are starting to pay off handsomely. Additionally, we are eager to extend our footprint to new cities, tapping into untapped markets and establishing a stronger presence nationwide. As part of our manufacturing goals, we have set ambitious milestones to achieve in terms of production capacity, efficiency, and quality. By focusing on these objectives, we aim to solidify our position as a leading brand – delivering exceptional products and experiences to our valued customers.

Qubo is a remarkable story on ‘Make in India’ – what are your big learnings so far?

Qubo, since the start, has delivered on its commitment to the Make in India initiative by ensuring that most of our products are manufactured here in the country. As a genuine Made in India & Made for India brand – Qubo leads with its characteristic innovation on the software & hardware front; that happens at our state-of-the-art Qubo Innovation Center in Noida. We develop products & train our AI models for Indian use cases rather that make do with standard offerings that are originally designed for the western market. Doing all of this locally brings in unparalleled speed – not just in terms of developing a product but also in terms of releasing periodic updates.

Given the end-to-end ownership & control of the entire tech stack along with the plethora of advantages it brings along from unparalleled data security to overall manufacturing agility in delivering a seamless customer experience, we really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Innovation is quite at the heart of what you are doing as a brand. What kind of innovations can we expect from Qubo in the coming months?

 Innovation is truly a way of life, here at Qubo. Whether that’s about developing new products that solve customer problems or upgrade their lifestyle by reimagining everyday objects such as door locks & door bells. For instance, we recently launched a WiFi Lock Gateway that can help unlock doors remotely – no matter where you are. Pretty cool, right? In addition, we keep pushing out regular updates for our apps that further enhance capabilities of our products – through newer features being included, or additional security patches deployed.

In fact, there’s a lot more new launch action coming up over the next few months – especially within the Smart Home Automation & Connected Auto spaces including GPS Vehicle Trackers as a key focus product category.

How important is the channel community for you3. So far Qubo has been heavily focusing towards online channels. Is this going to change in near future?

We, at Qubo, want to be there where our customers are. Hence, while our journey started online – we soon evolved into an omni-channel presence. As a result, today Qubo products are available at all major marketplaces, our own D2C website as well as through an extensive network of more than 2500 stores located in 30+ cities across the country. By embracing this omni-channel approach, Qubo ensures accessibility and convenience for customers, allowing them to choose their preferred purchasing channel. As shared earlier, we’re actively working on expanding our geographical footprint & be available across a wider network of offline stores across cities.