Jewellery Startup Melorra Bags $12.5 Mn From Symphony Asia, Lightbox Ventures and Alteria Capital The company said it will utilize the funds for technological innovations, product innovations and brand marketing to grow awareness and position Melorra as the choice of a new generation

Lightweight fine jewellery brand Melorra on Wednesday announced it has raised $12.5 million in an oversubscribed funding round from Symphony Asia, Lightbox Ventures and Alteria Capital. Existing and new family offices of Burman, Jeejeebhoy and others also participated in the round.

The company said it will utilize the funds for technological innovations, product innovations and brand marketing to grow awareness and position Melorra as the choice of a new generation.

Commenting on the latest development, Saroja Yeramilli, founder and chief executive officer, Melorra, said, "We are happy to raise this round of funding, and with the investor trust in our capabilities. Melorra is operating at positive unit economics and rapidly regaining its pre-COVID level revenues. This can be attributed to the fact that we are a leader in the daily wear lightweight, trendy jewellery segment. The added benefit during the pandemic is that we are available online which helps us address the customer concerns around trust and safety. In light of the increased gold prices, we have also come up with innovations in jewellery. Our customers can get the look and feel of expensive gold jewellery without having to shell out a huge amount since we are using path breaking innovations in the design and manufacture of jewellery".

Founded in 2016, Melorra has been creating jewellery pieces keeping in mind the global trends. The company on every Friday churns out fresh weekly collections of 300 designs that are available on iOS, Android, desktop or on a mobile responsive site. The company claims it has witnessed a growth in order values and numbers from the time lockdown was lifted in the country. It has seen a four-fold growth both organic and direct traffic in comparison to last year's Diwali. The company's average selling price has also grown up by 40 per cent.

On the investment, Anil Thadani, chairman of Symphony Asia, said, "We are impressed with the work of Saroja Yeramilli and her team at Melorra in creating a differentiated business model for the jewellery sector in India. Melorra has seen strong growth over the past few years, by bringing fast fashion jewellery to the millennial woman. We look forward to supporting the next phase of growth and expansion."

Lightbox Ventures' Siddharth Talwar said, "March when the pandemic hit, like so many other businesses around the world, Melorra saw sales volumes drop drastically, the future of the jewellery market questioned, and online search traffic heavily decrease. But over the past 4 months, they have turned the business on its head, in what's been nothing short of a masterclass. Not only is their revenue on track to surpass pre-Covid levels, but they've done it while cutting their marketing spend by over 50 per cent, and achieving positive unit economics. They are now in a better position than they've ever been in their journey to build India's largest daily wear lightweight gold brand!"

Currently, Melorra is delivering to more than 1700 towns and has a strong presence in cities across the country.

Alteria Capital's Vinod Murali, said "Consumers are now looking for feel-good factors given the immense frustration due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Melorra offers a unique shopping experience with minimal risk of physical interaction. The company has shown sharp growth over the last few months and the foundation of trust that the brand has built since inception is proving very useful now. We are excited to partner with Saroja and her team and hope that the upcoming Diwali season will be the start of India's consumption recovery which is important for the entire ecosystem."