Bangalore Watch Company raises $1.4M seed round from its own customers

What's the deal? Bangalore Watch Company has raised $1.4 million in seed funding, backed entirely by its own customers. The homegrown Indian brand, founded in 2018, designs, engineers, and assembles mechanical watches in Bengaluru.

Why customers? The brand deliberately skipped venture capital to protect its watchmaking ethos. Raising from existing buyers, it says, means investors already understand and value what it builds.

What's the endgame? The company plans to take its modern Indian storytelling to global collectors and quadruple production over the next three to five years. It currently makes around 1,500 watches annually, at an average selling price of US$2.44K, with 30% of customers being repeat buyers.

The product: Its portfolio spans the aviation-inspired MACH 1 line, the space-focused Apogee, the cricket-themed Cover Drive, and the landscape-inspired Peninsula collection. The brand has developed a proprietary steel-and-ceramic material, Cerasteel, and set dials with meteorite and forged carbon. Its 2024 Apogee Karman Line became India's first watch tested for outer-space conditions.

The founders: Husband-and-wife duo Nirupesh Joshi and Mercy Amalraj started the company after working in Hong Kong's technology sector. "We believe India can be part of that global independent watch story, with a distinctly modern Indian perspective," Joshi said, citing brands like MINGDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Christopher Ward as examples of independents that built global communities.

The signal: India's watchmaking scene is drawing new visibility, from GPHG nominations to international events. A customer-funded seed round is a modest but notable bet that an independent brand can scale globally without diluting its identity.

Read more: watchtime.in

Image credit: Generated with Gemini