PC: Entrackr
Omnichannel jewelry company, Giva, has closed an extended Series B funding round with $12 million (£9.4 million) raised from Premji Invest. Giva has used the funds raised in 2024 in its maiden funding to galvanize growth in the company.
Giva’s Board had passed a resolution to issue 68,028 Series B1 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) to PI Opportunities Fund II (Premji Invest) at a price of Rs 14,700 per share. Notably, it is the third investment by Premji Invest in Giva. The family office of Wipro’s founder Azim Premji had earlier led the Rs 270 crore Series B round for Bengaluru-based jewelry startup in the preceding year’s July.
The valuation for Giva estimated by TheKredible pegged the company’s value at around Rs 2,000 crore. However, post the recent fund infusion, this valuation is most likely to change on account of the growth trajectory and market positioning of the company. So far, Giva has raised more than $60 million from investors like Aditya Birla Venture, A91 Partners, and others, which highlights the confidence the investor community has in the business model and its prospects.
Remarkably, Giva began with the right footing with an only low-value brand in jewellery, but further diversified its product lines into gold jewelry and lab-grown diamonds, thereby targeting as wide a customer base as one could imagine. Its leadership at helm under Ishendra Agarwal also enhanced Giva’s outreach across outlets into physical retail, which opened over 110 stores strategically spread out all over the country to increase outreach by customers toward its offerings.
Despite the macroeconomic challenges, the revenue from operations of Giva sharply rose by 96.4 percent in FY23 to Rs 165 crore. The cost incurred by the company has risen manifolds to cross Rs 212 crore in the corresponding year. As a result, operational costs converted losses of 2.36 times, with those losses widening to Rs 45 crore in the fiscal year 23. Although the company has yet to report any official figures for FY24, strategic capital infusions will provide the impetus to strengthen Giva’s financial resilience and boost prospects.
The omnichannel jewelry space has been at the very top of the investors’ wish lists, with the likes of Aukera and Trisu raising significant rounds of funding that will help them scale up and innovate. Giva finds itself in a crowded market competing against legendary players like Melorra, Bluestone, CaratLane, and many funded and family-run brands as it builds its road to long-term growth and leadership in this very vibrant jewelry industry.
Conclusion In conclusion, the fact that Giva has hit the ambitious fundraising milestone speaks a lot about the resilience, innovation, and foresight of the company in the very competitive jewelry market. Premji Invest continues to back Giva, along with other stellar investors; this places the company in a strategic position to exploit new arising opportunities, better innovation products, and increase presence within the market to entrench its front position in the omnichannel jewelry market.
