The platform will use these funds for team expansion, product development and marketing initiatives targetted at acquiring new jewellers and customers
India-based online jewellery community and marketplace startup, Joolz has raised close to US$500,000 in pre-Series A funding from a consortium of investors, including Silicon Valley-based Powerhouse Ventures and Japan-based M&S Partners.
Other investors who participated in the round include Ah! Ventures, former CFO of Olacabs Deepak Kasthwal, former CTO of Cleartrip PKX Thomas, and Mahesh Ahuja, Director at Brittman.
Joolz is an India-focused community and marketplace that brings together leading jewellery brands on a single platform. The startup aggregates and curates high-quality jewellery inventory.
Also Read: Online jewellery startup BlueStone bags US$30M to be a cut above the rest
The platform also enables two-way interaction between jewellery buyers and sellers through discussion, discovery and education.
Joolz currently has close to 50 leading jewellers on its platform, including Geetanjali Jewellers, Waman Hari Pethe and Popley Jewelers. It aims to grow this number to 100 in six months. The startup earns revenues from charging a marketplace commission.
Additionally, Joolz is also focused on generating footfalls to the jewellery retailers’ physical stores through online creative campaigns and advertisements. It had earlier raised an initial funding from GSF Accelerator, which co-invested with an Israeli angel investor.
Also Read: E-commerce startup SaleBhai raises US$1.5M to bring you unique made-in-India consumable items
According to Arnaud Lorie, Founder and CEO at Joolz, the platform will use these funds for team expansion, product development and marketing initiatives targeted at acquiring new jewellers and customers.
“Buying jewellery is so closely intertwined with Indian culture that the act of simply selling it online is not going to create any significant impact in the market. We therefore want to be the single biggest facilitator of jewellery commerce; whether online, or more importantly, offline,” said Arnaud in a press statement.
The post Indian online jewellery marketplace Joolz glams it up with close to US$500K in pre-Series A funding appeared first on e27.