BackBlueStone raises Rs200 crore in Series D round
This round of investment in BlueStone saw participation from Singapore-based VC fund RB Investments, besides existing investors Kalaari Capital and IvyCap Ventures
Premium
Bengaluru: Online jewellery retailer BlueStone has raised ₹ 200 crore in a Series D funding round led by financial services company IIFL Holdings Ltd and existing investor Accel Partners, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The round also saw participation from another new investor, Singapore-based venture capital fund RB Investments, besides existing investors Kalaari Capital and IvyCap Ventures.
BlueStone, owned by Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, was founded in 2011 by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha and Vidya Nataraj. The company strengthened its top deck by hiring former TaxiForSure chief executive Arvind Singhal as chief operating officer in September.
“BlueStone pioneered the category of online fine jewellery in 2011 and in a short span of five years has captured majority market share. We are now targeting a four-fold increase in revenues to touch ₹ 1,000 crore by 2018 and want to achieve this goal in a profitable and sustainable manner," Kushwaha, founder and chief executive at BlueStone, said in the statement.
BlueStone raised $5 million in 2012 in a Series A round from Accel Partners and Meena Ganesh, founder of Portea Medical, followed by another $10 million in a Series B round from Kalaari Capital, Accel Partners, Saama Capital and InnoVen Capital, a venture debt firm, in March 2014.
It raised $15.8 million in a Series C round last July, from IvyCap Ventures, Accel Partners, Dragoneer Investment Group, Kalaari Capital and Saama Capital. Early backer Accel has been a consistent investor in the firm at every stage.
In September 2014, BlueStone became Ratan Tata’s second investment in the e-commerce segment, after online marketplace Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd). Tata has so far invested in at least 30 start-ups in India and elsewhere.
BlueStone’s fund-raise comes barely two months after Titan Co. Ltd acquired a majority stake in its biggest rival, the Tiger Global Management-backed CaratLane (Caratlane Trading Pvt. Ltd).
According to Tracxn, a company which tracks start-ups, India is home to about 93 online jewellery start-ups. Out of them, eight have together raised about $107 million from investors.
Apart from CaratLane and BlueStone, another well-funded start-up is the Jaipur-based Voylla.com, which raised $15 million from Peepul Capital in October. Both Flipkart Ltd and Amazon India (Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd) have launched jewellery as a category on their online marketplaces.
Bluestone’s latest fund-raise comes at a time when there is a slowdown in early-stage deal-making and late-stage deals are particularly difficult to come by.
According to Preqin, a research firm, eight Series B deals were struck between January and March, as against 10 such deals a year ago. Deal value shrunk from $130 million in the December quarter to $34 million in the March quarter. The report further adds that $53 million was raised in four Series C deals in the first quarter of 2016 as against $179 million in three deals in the December quarter.
According to a report by consulting firm AT Kearney and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), the domestic gems and jewellery market in India was worth ₹ 251,000 crore in 2013 and is expected to cross the ₹ 5 trillion mark by 2018.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
