Lab-grown diamond jewellery company Aukera has raised $15 million in its latest funding round led by Peak XV Partners.
Existing investors Fireside Ventures, Sparrow Capital, Prath Ventures, and Alteria Capital also participated in the round.
Aukera will use the funds to double down on its retail footprint and enhance its product offerings by investing in hiring design, merchandising, and marketing talent. Currently, the company has 13 offline stores across Bangalore, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad. It will be adding two more in the next 10 days.
Founded in 2023 by Lisa Mukhedkar and Kumar Saurabh, Aukera is a Bengaluru-based lab-grown diamond jewellery brand. The latest funding brings the total funds raised by the firm to almost $20 million.
“The demand for lab-grown diamonds in India is growing phenomenally,” Mukhedkar told ET. “Our customers, who started buying from us out of vague curiosity, are now engaging with the brand with an intent to buy backed by trust. We are seeing very high repeat and referral rates. It is between 25 and 30% within a period of six to eight months.”
According to Mukhedkar, Aukera is expected to be at a Rs 200 crore annual run rate by the end of this financial year. “We see ourselves scaling to a Rs 1,000 crore brand in the next five to seven years.”
Kanwaljit Singh, founder and managing partner at Fireside Ventures, who is an existing investor in the firm, said, “With this investment, Aukera is now poised to scale rapidly and set the benchmark for the category.”
“We are excited to partner with them as they scale Aukera’s footprint and deepen the brand’s leadership in this emerging category,” Abhishek Mohan, principal, Peak XV Partners, said in a prepared statement.
India’s expanding lab-grown diamond industry is emerging as a promising opportunity for both brands and investors. The market, which stood at $299.9 million in 2023, is estimated to reach $1,192.3 million by 2033 at a 14.8% CAGR, according to the Industrial Extension Bureau, which is an investment promotion agency of Gujarat.
