Audientes establishes subsidiary in India
Today Audientes announces the establishment of its new subsidiary in India to spearhead the commercialization of its self-fitting hearing aid, with local availability slated for Q3 2021. The Hyderabad branch will be the first of several regional branches in India.
In establishing its new subsidiary in Hyderabad, India’s sixth largest city with a metro area population of 10.2 million, Audientes ensures a territorial footing and paves the way for a close dialog with consumers, industry professionals and prospective channel partners in India – the world’s largest middle-income country.
Strengthening our position in India
“Opening the doors to our first Indian branch is a significant milestone for Audientes and signals our deep commitment to the Indian market – a market with a huge hearing loss problem to solve, thus an immense growth potential for Audientes to tap while at the same time making a substantial societal impact. The establishment will strengthen our position and visibility in the market while allowing us to accelerate national and regional business development building closer relationships to key partners,” says Steen Thygesen, CEO, Audientes A/S.
More local branches to follow in India
The Audientes office in central Hyderabad will include facilities for country management, customer support, B2B and B2C sales as well as a customer experience center. It is the first in a number of planned Audientes local branches with offices in other major ‘Tier 1’ cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata to follow. The goal is to establish a broad nationwide sales presence.
In establishing its presence across India, Audientes will initially address the fast-growing Indian middleclass of over 300 million consumers across Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities. Over time, the company will reach out into more rural areas where two-thirds of the Indian population live, and thus an even larger number of people with unaddressed hearing loss needing accessible and affordable hearing solutions that are self-fitting because they have little or no access to hearing professionals at clinics.
Ecommerce is booming across India
India is today the world’s second largest ecommerce market measured by retail sales figures, it is the 8th largest ecommerce market. The Indian e-retail market is primed to grow by 30% CAGR to reach nearly 300-350 million online product shoppers over the next five years, propelling the online gross merchandise value to USD 100-120 billion by 2025 (Source: Bain & Company, 2020). The substantial shift in Indian ecommerce has also led to a rapidly growing market in e-healthcare estimated at USD 16 billion by 2025 (source: RedSeer Management Consulting, 2020).
Audientes’ self-fitting hearing aid is ideal for online sales, and with extended local presence, the company is well-positioned to establish local sales and marketing partnerships to capitalize on the ecommerce trend in India.
We have the solution for a growing hearing loss problem
“We are looking forward to welcoming our partners and customers in our new premises. Today, a staggering number of people in India live without a solution to their hearing loss due to several barriers, such as high cost of acquisition and maintenance, a lack of audiologists and a costly fitting process. With our smart and self-fitting hearing aid and our multi-tiered distribution strategy with both ecommerce and regional over-the-counter sales, we are more than ready to be a part of the solution to the growing hearing loss problem,” says Raman Rao, Country Head, India.
Need for do-it-yourself healthcare solutions
“For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has put strong pressure on healthcare systems throughout the world which underlines the need for more do-it-yourself healthcare solutions, such as Audientes’ solution. Innovation Centre Denmark in India and the Danish Trade Council in India have followed and supported Audientes’ establishment in India at this critical time for the country, and we are looking forward to continuing the collaboration”, says H.E. Freddy Svane, the Danish Ambassador to India, Royal Danish Embassy in New Delhi.
For further information, please contact:
Steen Thygesen, CEO
Phone: +45 53 17 26 10
Email: st@audientes.com
Raman PV Rao, Country Head, India
Phone: + 91 91770 49678
Email: rr@audientes.com
About Audientes A/S
Audientes is one of the new players in the global hearing aid market. The company has developed a new self-fitting hearing aid, which will be rolled out in the Indian market in Q3 2021 before being introduced to the US OTC market and other markets. Audientes' mission is to help the many millions who suffer from disabling hearing loss but cannot afford to buy one of the very expensive conventional hearing aids on the market.
Today, nearly 500 million people globally suffer from disabling hearing loss, of whom 400 million do not have a quality solution to address their hearing loss. The WHO estimates that, by 2050, the number of people with disabling hearing loss will reach 900 million. This is nothing short of a global health issue. Audientes wants to be part of the solution to this issue by offering affordable, self-fitting binaural hearing aids for the benefit of all.
Audientes is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Denmark (AUDNTS).
For additional information about Audientes’ financial position and development, please refer to the company’s website (www.audientes.com).