MUMBAI: Innovation is the key to succeed in today’s time. Identifying a gap between customer needs and the available products is a quality, which Ankush Khera of Fox My Box, realised a decade ago.

On being asked, how did it all start, FoxMy Box, CEO and founder Ankush Khera shares, “I came across an American company called Colorware, which customises color combination for gadgets and fell in love with what they did. I applied for a job there too, however was rejected due to no skill set. But the desire to do something in this field stayed on. Taking an inspiration from what Colorware did, I also wanted to do something similar. Thus, started my Research and Development towards having my own company and take a step further.”

“We have worked on laptops, phones, covers, air purifiers, refrigerators, Original Zippo Lighters, cycles, motorbikes, microphones, and turnkey concepts for interiors and campaigns for companies, who would like to jazz up their products,” he adds.

But won’t jazzing up a gadget be considered an extra expense, especially, for musicians, who are already working in an industry that wouldn’t pay? Additionally, the jazzing up of product wouldn’t add to their performance.

On this, Ankush Khera has a valid justification. The inspiration stemmed out from more than observing work of Colorware, it came from the human emotion of possession. Elaborates Ankush, “As humans, we are fond of exclusivity. We want something that belongs only to us. I personally like to buy things from limited edition collection. Drawing an understanding from that, this idea of personalising gadgets came to mind. Fox My Box is about making a style statement.”

Ankush started as a one-man army, planning and executing everything on his own. Today, five years later, he has a team and is working to bring awareness of personalization in custom painting electronics.

The defining point came, when they collaborated with a giant like Sennheiser, as their Bespoke Partner for Sennheiser TOP 50 AWARDS. On this, hey says, “I will be grateful to Sennheiser forever. Because no matter how good your work is, you need a brand like this to collaborate with, to bring the product or service to the front. Sennheiser gave us that platform.”

Sennheiser had previously collaborated with another company for customizing their Award Microphones for TOP 50. The company wasn’t happy with the work. That is when Ankush stepped in and requested the company give his company a chance. And rest as they is history. Apart from Sennheiser, Fox my Box has worked with other big companies like Hero Cycles, Cooler Master, Xrig.

Recently, they achieved a milestone as actor/singer Farhan Khan, who used products, designed by the company for his recent USA tour. Here too, Farhan had tried another company’s design and wasnot happy with that. “The earlier was more like wrap or sticker, whereas ours is painted thus the grip is tighter for the mikes. Farhan initially wasn’t convinced but we requested him to see our work in person instead of a picture, as picture doesn’t give the desired effect. He liked what he saw and had clear specifications of what he wanted.” This is not the first time a mainstream singer has used a product designed by them. Before Farhan, another leading singer Papon has used their Services.

The products are designed with perfect finish and chic look, but it doesn’t touch the core functionality of any product. “We have to dismantle the product and reassemble the entire product. The warranty thereafter lies with us. But in this process we don’t touch the hardware in anyway,” shares Ankush.

The price might be a concern. However, it is usually on request. “An apple watch may cost 14,000 and a MacBook Promight cost 24,000. Although it depends on the requirements”, adds Ankush.

When asked, what they are looking forward to, Anksuh says, “Going ahead, we want to continue working with more amazing artistes and companies. Our wish list is ready.”

Signing off, Ankush says, “Our product will not technically add to the performance but it brings an effect to the presentation and makes the artiste feel amazing while performing.”