ounded in 2018, Bangalore Watch Company has built its identity around contemporary Indian stories, drawing on space, aviation and cricket. According to co-founder Nirupesh Joshi, its watches now have owners in more than 30 countries, and international markets account for around half of purchases.

The company’s first external investment marks a new stage in that development, giving it more resources to build its team and its presence overseas.

“For eight years, Bangalore Watch Company was built by thinking carefully about every next step. Raising capital gives us the freedom to think much bigger, especially about how we can take our stories and our point of view from India to the rest of the world,” said Nirupesh Joshi, Co-Founder.

“Raising capital gives us the freedom to think much bigger, especially about how we can take our stories and our point of view from India to the rest of the world.”

“A big part of building BWC for me has been meeting the people who come into the boutique and seeing their relationship with the brand grow over time. The investment gives us the opportunity to create that same kind of experience for more people, in more parts of the world. That is what makes this next chapter exciting for me,” stated Mercy Amalraj, Co-Founder.

“For both of us, the raise is ultimately a change in scale, not a change in philosophy. After eight years of building BWC on our own terms, we now have more resources to take the brand further while staying close to the things that made it meaningful to begin with.”

In this interview with Europa Star, Nirupesh Joshi discusses the reasoning behind the raise, the founders’ continued operational control and his ambition to earn lasting recognition for an Indian watch brand.

Europa Star: Why was this the right moment for Bangalore Watch Company to raise external capital for the first time since its founding in 2018?

Nirupesh Joshi: We spent our first eight years building Bangalore Watch Company without external capital, and that was a deliberate choice. It gave us the freedom to grow at our own pace, make long-term decisions, and stay focused on the product and our customers rather than short-term growth.

Today, we are at a different point in our journey. We have built a strong base of customers in India and overseas, with people in more than 30 countries owning BWC watches. Around half of our purchases now come from international markets, which gives us confidence that what we are building from Bangalore has relevance well beyond India.

The decision to raise capital is therefore less about proving that the model works and more about having the resources to take what we have already built to the next stage. There are new products we want to develop, capabilities we want to build, and international markets where we want to be closer to our customers. Doing all of this entirely through our own cash flows would mean moving more slowly than the opportunity in front of us.

How will the investment be used, and what will it enable the company to do that was not possible while remaining self-funded?

The investment gives us the ability to take our international ambitions further. A large part of the capital will go towards building a stronger presence in key global markets, expanding our team, and investing in new products.

Until now, BWC has grown entirely through the business itself, which has meant being very disciplined about where and when we invest. The new capital gives us more room to make bigger, longer-term investments, particularly in international markets, product development and the collector experience. The focus is on giving us the resources to build a truly global watch brand from India.

“Around half of our purchases now come from international markets, which gives us confidence that what we are building from Bangalore has relevance well beyond India.”

How will you balance investor expectations for growth with the independence, craftsmanship and exclusivity valued by watch collectors?

Private equity in any form brings growth expectations. However, the investors are our own customers who understand our vision. The plan is not rapid scale, but the ability to build stronger products and communicate better in select markets. Mercy, our core team and I still hold operational control, so our strategy is still unchanged. We are still a very small business, and the investment allows us to scale to a meaningful size while staying direct to customers for most of our business.

What does the current momentum around India mean for Bangalore Watch Company and the wider development of Indian watchmaking?

India is clearly in focus. We are importing more watches each year and are one of the fastest-growing markets. Every executive we spoke with in Geneva has hinted at their interest in either entering India or expanding in India.

I think this is also a great time for us to use this momentum to build from India and take BWC to a global audience. India is also in the global spotlight now with our soft power and cultural influence. Our brand’s core is to bring contemporary stories like space, aviation and cricket. So, this will be very relatable to the global community.

As the Indian watch market grows, it also gives Indian watchmakers a larger home market to build from, while creating an opportunity to reach collectors globally. The bigger opportunity is for India to be seen not only as a country that buys watches, but as a country that builds watch brands the world wants to collect.

If your first chapter was about proving that a contemporary Indian watch brand could exist, what do you want this next chapter to prove?

The first chapter was about proving that we could build high-quality mechanical watches from India and earn the trust of people who take watches seriously. When we started BWC in 2018, there was no independent Indian brand trying to build a modern mechanical watch company for a global audience. A lot of the work was simply about showing that it was possible.

The next chapter is about taking that much further. We want to build a brand that is Indian in where it comes from, but global in how it is perceived. That means developing watches with a clear point of view, building stronger capabilities in India and creating products that can stand comfortably alongside established names in the international independent watch industry.

The first chapter was about proving that high-quality watches can be built from India. The next is about proving that an Indian watch brand can earn lasting respect around the world.

“When we started in 2018, there was no independent Indian brand trying to build a modern mechanical watch company for a global audience. A lot of the work was simply about showing that it was possible.”

What does raising capital change for the founders personally after building BWC without outside funding for eight years?

After eight years of building BWC without outside funding, raising capital changes the scale of what we can do, but not the principles we have built the company around.

A big part of the change is the ability to think much more globally. Over the last eight years, we have focused on building BWC’s voice, its stories and how the brand is understood outside India. The investment gives us more room to build the team, invest in products and take BWC into more international markets, while giving the brand a much larger platform to tell its story.

It also gives us the opportunity to take the physical and personal side of the brand further. We have been closely involved in the boutique and the Ownership Experience, and in making sure that buying a BWC watch feels like the beginning of a relationship rather than simply a transaction. As we enter more international markets, the investment gives us the opportunity to build that experience at a larger scale while keeping it personal.

There is also a personal sense of responsibility that comes with the raise. The first investors are not institutional investors who have simply looked at the numbers. All our investors are people who have bought BWC watches, spent time with the brand and experienced it themselves. For us, having those customers choose to invest in the next chapter makes the raise especially meaningful.

“The bigger opportunity is for India to be seen not only as a country that buys watches, but as a country that builds watch brands the world wants to collect.”