Exclusive: Jewellery Startup Melorra Bags $10 Mn Debt Funding From Ace Investor Kalpraj Dharamshi, Others

Indian fine jewellery D2C brand Melorra is raising INR 79 Cr (approx $10.2 Mn) in a debt funding round. The startup is raising the investment from a clutch of ten investors. 

According to the company’s regulatory filings accessed by Inc42, the startup is raising investment from Kalpraj Damji Dharamshi and Hina Kalpraj Dharamshi of Dharamshi Securities Private Limited. Kalpraj Dharmshi is considered as one of the top investors of Dalal Street with stock investments in TVS Motors, Elecon Engineering, Marksans Pharma, and Natco Pharma, among others.

Hemang Raichand Dharamshi and Harsha Hemang Dharamshi, Ravindra Raichand Dharamshi and Rupali Ravindra Dharamshi also participated

The startup is also raising funds from Puneet Bhatia, managing director of TPG Growth Capital, Mukul Agarwal of Param Capital, and Singapore-based Symphony Asia, a strategic investment firm. For this INR 79 Cr round,  the startup is alloting 12,572 compulsory convertible debentures. 

Founded in 2015 by Saroja Yeramilli, the Bengaluru-based startup offers daily-wear gold jewellery. The D2C startup sells “trendy and lightweight” jewellery that goes well with minimalism.  

The startup uses computer-aided design (CAD) to design its jewellery. The startup sells its product through its website and android and iOS applications.

The startup had bagged $12.5 Mn in September last year from Symphony Asia, Lightbox Ventures, and Alteria Capital. Prior to this round, it had raised a  $12 Mn Series C round from Lightbox, BlackSoil Capital and family offices of some of the biggest business houses in the country.

Melorra competes against the likes of Nykaa owned Pipa.Bella, Voylla, JewelMaze among others. 

As per Toflr, Melorra posted INR 90 Cr in FY20, a 419% rise from FY19. The startup’s loss stood at INR 61 Cr in FY20, a 79% drop from FY19. 

In India, gold is considered as one of the most valuable assets irrespective of the country’s economy. 

According to an IBEF report, as of February 2021, India’s gold and diamond trade contributed close to 7.5% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 14% to India’s total merchandise exports. The gem and jewellery sector is likely to employ close to 8.23 Mn people by 2022, from 5 Mn in 2020. 

Witnessing the growth in the market, the Indian government has permitted 100% FDI in the sector under the automatic route, wherein the foreign investor or the Indian company do not require any prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India or the government. 

The report further highlights that In FY21, India exported gems and jewellery worth $25.3 Bn.