Nikhil Kamath, Info Edge and others led Rs 550 Cr to be raised by Bluestone
A number of high-net-worth individuals, startup founders, and institutional investors are contributing to jewellery e-tailer Bluestone’s Rs 550 crore fundraising effort. Nikhil Kamath, a co-founder of Zerodha, Ranjan Pai, the chairman of Manipal Group, and Info Edge Ventures will each invest Rs 100 crore.
Deepinder Goyal and Amit Jain, the co-founders and CEOs of Zomato and CarDekho, IIFL, and other current backers, will contribute the remaining Rs 250 crore. According to an ET report, the company intends to use the funds for growth and the opening of new offline stores.
Bluestoner raised $30 million in March 2022 from Sunil Kant Munjal’s family office at a $378 million valuation. The 12-year-old business sells gold and diamond jewelry through its brick-and-mortar stores and online shops.
The funding came at a time when Caratlane, a rival of Bluestone, had a valuation of more than Rs 17,000 crore ($2 billion). Titan acquired the remaining 27.2% stake from Mithun Sancheti and his family in August for Rs 4,621 crore.
Although Bluestone has not yet released its FY23 financial results, its operating revenue increased 88.2% to Rs 461 crore in FY22. Its losses increased by about 90% to Rs 59 crore during that time. Melorra, Giva, and the CaratLane owned by the Tata Group are in direct competition with it.
