D2C Jewellery Brand Melorra Raises $16 Mn In Series D Funding Round

Indian D2C jewellery brand Melorra has raised $16 Mn in the first closure of a Series D funding round.

The round saw participation from Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I, SRF Family Office, N+1 and other existing investors. 

The fresh capital will be deployed for brand marketing and launching offline stores across India.

A few weeks ago, Inc42 reported that Melorra was in discussions with some foreign private equity investors including Norwest Ventures to raise $40 Mn in an equity and debt funding round at a valuation of about $400 Mn.  

During that time frame, Melorra’s regulatory filing revealed that it had already garnered $12.5 Mn from Axis Growth Avenue, Capri Global, SRF Transnational Holdings, and Suchi Kothari.

Founded in 2016 by Saroja Yeramilli, the Bengaluru-based startup offers gold jewellery for women across various categories. It sells jewellery through its website as well as offline stores. It claims to deliver jewellery to 718 districts and over 2800 towns in India.

Melorra claims to have grown at 200% CAGR over the past few years. It further asserts to have clocked a revenue of more than INR 360 Cr in FY22. It aims to touch $1 Bn in revenue by FY26 through consolidation of its online leadership in the sector and expanding its offline footprint.

Melorra currently has an ARR close to $100 Mn and is aiming to clock over $100 Mn net revenue in the fiscal year (FY 22-23). The startup said it has raised $71 Mn fundraising to date and mulling to raise more funding in the coming time. 

Melorra also claims to have doubled down its valuation in six months since its last fundraising in October last year where it raised $24 Mn in a Series C funding round led by 9Unicorns, Symphony Holdings, Value Quest, Param Capital and family offices. 

The funds were deployed to invest in tech infrastructure, brand marketing, and expanding its offline stores across PAN India.

In 2020, Melorra secured INR 66 Cr (nearly $8.9 Mn) in debt funding led by Shadow Holdings. Lightbox and Embassy Group’s CFO Gopinath Ambadithody also participated in this round.

Melorra competes with the likes of Voylla, Jewelmaze and Pipa Bella in the online gold jewellery market. 

Jewellery Startups Shining Bright

As per an IBEF report, the gold and diamond trade contributed about 7.5% to India’s GDP and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.34% between FY22-27. The gems and jewellery sector is estimated to touch $119.80 Bn by FY27.

A slew of fundraising activities have been witnessed in the jewellery segment lately. In March this year, jewellery brand BlueStone raised $30 Mn in a funding round at a post-money valuation of $410 Mn. The round was led by Hero Enterprise’s Sunil Kant Munjal.

In January this year, D2C jewellery startup GIVA  secured $10 Mn in a Series A round from Sixth Sense Ventures, A91 Partners and others including India Quotient, Grand Anicut Angel Fund, and Founder’s Bank Capital.

Further, in February this year, jewellery startup Aulerth reportedly secured $1.1 Mn in a seed funding round from different investors. 

The round saw participation from M Venture Partners, designer Tarun Tahiliani, Taro Nordheider, who is the former CEO of Swarovski Professional, LV angel fund, and a network of McKinsey partners.