Legrand opens voice-enabled experience centre in B'luru

Electrical and digital building products company, Legrand India, which opened its first voice-enabled experience centre - Innoval - in Bengaluru on Wednesday, said it plans to open two more in Dehradun and New Delhi. By the end of next year, it wants to have 10 Innoval centres.

"We already have opened six Innoval centres, including this new one in Bengaluru. Innoval will host Legrand Group India's products- Legrand, Numeric and Valrack," said Jean-Charles Thuard, CEO and MD, Legrand India.

Innoval is Legrand's global brand of product showcases. The IoT enabled product offerings across multiple categories include-IoT switches, wireless speakers, assisted living, customised hospitality solutions, IoT based energy monitoring, and data centre monitoring system, among others. All these products are compatible with third-party voice-controlled devices like Google Home and Alexa along with their own mobile applications and touch panels.

Headquartered in France, the group has manufacturing facilities in 90 countries and its products are sold in over 180 countries. "India is one of the top 4 markets for us and we are very much committed to the country. Over 100 people are employed in Bengaluru alone. We have 10 factories and three R&D centres in India," said Thuard, adding 85% of the products that are sold in India are manufactured in the country.

Legrand sees voice technology taking centre space and the purpose of Innoval is to support all partners- investors, architects, panel builder, and end customers.

With a global turnover of €5.5 billion, through its entry in the IoT space, it takes a further leap with its smart connected home offerings. The company's turnover in India in the last fiscal was Rs 2,500 crore.

"We are looking at two business models- acquisition and innovation. While 30% of our business comes from retail, the rest is B2B globally," said Sameer Saxena, Director-Marketing, Legrand India.