eJOHRI Raises $1 Mn From Hong Kong Investors For Service Expansion

SUMMARY

It will be utilising the fund to boost its consumer reach and offer service support to jewellery retailers

eJOHRI aims to collaborate with more than 3 Lakh jewellery retailers in the country

Its partners include PNG Jewellers, Ranka Jewellers, Waman Hari Pethe and other jewellery retailers

Mumbai-based omnichannel jewellery startup eJOHRI announced , on Tuesday (December 10) that it has raised $1 Mn funding led by London-based investor Rajesh Ranavat alongside other investors in a Pre-Series A round.

The company will be utilising the fund to enhance consumer reach and offer service support to more than 100 jewellers across India also plans to expand its services to over 1K jewellery retailers.

Ranavat, optimistic about the future of eJOHRI, said that this platform has helped the local jewellers expand their reach to customers who like their designs. Most importantly, the digital marketplace helps small, medium and large jewellery makers to meet the specific needs of a national and global audience, he added.

Jignesh Mehta, cofounder of eJOHRI said it is excited to bring onboard likeminded investors who are not just providing the funding but also helping them build a strategy to take the business to the next level.

“This investment reaffirms the marketplace potential of this hitherto unorganised business,” Mehta said.

Cofounder Shailen Mehta also said that the company aims to get on board 3 Lakh Indian jewellery retailers in the coming days.

Founded in 2015, eJOHRI was started by Jignesh Mehta and Shailen Mehta. The online jewellery marketplace offers customers over 18K designs from different jewellery retailers across India. Some of the most popular jewellery retailers on eJOHRI platform include PNG Jewellers, Ranka Jewellers, Waman Hari Pethe, PC Chandra, PMJ Jewels among others.

Besides eJOHRI, some of the other players in this sector include CaratLane, Velvetcase, Sukkhi, Bluestone, Radiant Bay and Kuber Box. As per IBEF report, the gems and jewellery sector contributes around 7% of the country’s GDP and 15% to India’s total merchandise exports. The industry employs over 4.64 Mn people and is expected to employ 8.23 Mn by 2022. In another report, Technavio’s analysts predicted that the jewellery market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.95% between 2014 and 2019.

This year, the watchmaker company Titan has invested 1$14.2 Mn in Chennai-based online jewellery store CaratLane. In 2018, Mumbai-based fashion jewellery startup Sukkhi raised $7 Mn in funding from Gurugram-based private equity fund Carpediem Capital and Delhi-based Duane Park.