Taylor & Hart, a Bulgarian-founded, London-based digital-first bespoke jewellery business, has secured £3.5 million in funding from Virgin Money, Active Partners, and private investment platform Seedrs.
The UK company will utilise the funds to develop its technology that ensures the authenticity of its gemstones and provides a seamless customer experience.
The capital will be used to expand the brand globally and increase its brand awareness.
Changing consumer demands
In recent years, consumer demands on the jewellery industry, particularly engagement rings, have shifted from price-driven, commoditised rings to unique and branded designer jewellery.
Along with this demand for personalisation, consumers are increasingly purchasing jewelry online, with online demand growing at 15% CAGR.
Millennials and Gen-Z buyers are also keen on shopping consciously and are showing interest in the sustainability of the products they buy.
This growing interest in sustainability has increased demand to understand the provenance of gemstones, and the growth of lab-grown diamonds has accelerated, accounting for 10% of global diamond jewellery sales last year, up from 2% in 2018.
As consumer trends around jewellery evolve, the potential for ethical brands is enormous.
Uses blockchain to track diamonds journey
Founded by Nikolay Pirianko in 2014, Taylor & Hart aims to cater conscious and digitally savvy consumers with its transparent, digital-first, collaborative design process that enables customers to create a bespoke engagement ring more sustainably.
The UK company utilises blockchain to allow customers to track every step of the diamond’s journey.
The brand has also seen a rapid increase in lab-grown diamond purchases, with demand growing over 200% year on year.
Since its launch, the company claims to be revolutionising the jewelry market with an NPS score consistently exceeding 85, and annualized revenue now greater than £10M.
Currently, the company employs a team of 65 across four countries in the UK, the USA, and Europe.
Taylor & Hart Founder & CEO Nikolay Piriankov said: “Taylor & Hart was born to disrupt the opaque and conventional ring shopping experience by creating unique, meaningful rings for our customers which are designed to be passed down through generations with a truly omnichannel service. We’re delighted to have Virgin Money and Seedrs investors supporting us with this new round of funding alongside the continued support of our lead investor Active Partners. This next phase of growth is really exciting as we work towards fulfilling our mission to become the global destination for bespoke engagement rings.”
The post The Bulgarian-founded blockchain startup scoops £3.5M to speed up transparency in the diamond industry appeared first on Tech Funding News.
