In 2016, Siddhartha Jhunjhunwalla, founder of Bengaluru-based Kadence, was the first to enter the musical instrument market with the ukulele. While the stringed instrument shares some similarities with an acoustic guitar—a common shape that amplifies sound in a lightweight body—its size, chords, tuning and generally how the instrument behaves is vastly different. The standard guitar has six strings, while the ukulele has four. It’s these elements (which only work in uke’s favour) that propelled the Bengaluru-based sound engineer to dive into the segment with 30 models, all indigenously manufactured. “Our research had shown that the chances of ukuleles getting popular was high because of its diminutive body, portability, affordability and ease of learning.” He was right: it fared well. But, in the last one year, it’s popularity has surprised even Jhunjhunwala. 

Kadence sold around 50,000 units between January and December 2019. The number tripled to 1,50,000 in 2020. While it’s the millennials that form a large chunk of its fans, parents, working professionals and even retired seniors have now joined the fold. “The guitar was our highest selling instrument, but now the ukulele is at par. What has happened since the Coronavirus outbreak is that a hobby culture has emerged. People are cooped up at home, have more time on their hands and there can’t be a better time to learn something new.” Jhunjhunwalla launched the company in 2010 to offer quality instruments. “While handling stage sound installations at concerts and gigs, we noticed that there was a vacuum when it came to affordable and good quality instruments. The established brands were very expensive and had additional inventory issues. So, we decided to design and manufacture indigenously to be able to bring down the costs.”