Myntra acquires Witworks to strengthen smart wearable segment

Online fashion retailer Myntra today said it has acquired Bengaluru-based Witworks, as the Flipkart-owned firm looks to launch smart wearable products for its in-house brands. It did not disclose the deal amount. Myntra said in a statement that the acquisition will enable it to "develop wearable products for their in-house brands as well as leverage the technology to drive innovation and enhance consumer engagement in the future".

As part of the deal, Myntra has inducted the team into its Innovation Labs. "(Smart) wearables is currently a Rs 300 crore industry in India and is growing rapidly, with online contributing 60 per cent to the total business," Myntra Chief Technology Officer Jeyandran Venugopal said.

"This acquisition will help us to solidify our position in this segment and enable us to develop and launch cutting edge wearable products like smart shoes, connected smart watches and interactive/intelligent clothing with biosensors," he said.

Witworks Consumer Technologies was founded in 2014 by Somnath Meher, Ankit DP and Chandrashekhar Iyer. The company launched its flagship wearable device -- Blink Watch in 2016 -- which operated on their voice-based platform, Marvin OS. 

The company also has a range of audio and fitness wearable devices, under the same brand. 

Witworks has a dedicated product development and marketing team, with capabilities to produce devices in India as well as in global production houses. 

Myntra has been using technologies like data mining and artificial intelligence (AI) to help designers come up with patterns and styles that can boost sales for apparel makers. It has already tested this internally with its two in-house brands Moda Rapido and Here and Now which are powered by AI.

Apart from using machines to come up with new designs, Myntra is also looking at using augmented reality (AR) to enhance connect with consumers.