Melorra raises $24 million in a funding round led by 9Unicorns

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) jewellery brand Melorra has raised $24 million in a funding round led by 9Unicorns, Symphony International Holdings Limited, Value Quest, Venture Catalysts, Param Capital and family offices.

The funds raised will be used for a technology upgrade, ramping up brand marketing, and expansion of Melorra's experience centres across India.

Founded in 2016, Melorra has experienced consistent growth and delivers Hallmarked gold to all 718 Indian districts, while the government mandates coverage in only 256 districts. The brand has delivered to over 2,700 towns in India so far and clocked 200 per cent year-on-year growth.

The company is aiming for $1 billion in revenue five years from now. Melorra is also currently spearheading a campaign to educate consumers about the importance of buying BIS Hallmarked gold jewellery in India.

Melorra's current revenue is around Rs 350 crore and the company aim to become the largest daily wear jewellery company in India

Speaking about this, Saroja Yeramilli, Founder and CEO, Melorra, said, "Disruption has been one of Melorra's foremost attributes ever since inception. From identifying the need for a transformation in the perception around gold to ensuring that all 718 districts in India have access to Hallmarked gold jewellery, Melorra's journey has been incredibly fulfilling. As a digital-first jewellery player, we have adopted a multi-channel strategy to ensure Melorra is where its customers are. In this light, this funding comes as an affirmation that we continue to lead in the right path. We will be focusing on enhancing our operations and marketing and expansion of our experience centre footprint across the country."

Melorra's vision is to bring the fast-fashion model into jewellery, where they launch a new collection every week and 75 designs every Friday. All these are inspired by global fashion trends. Melorra's team visits the Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks and picks 26 micro-trends launched by global fashion brands. Melorra jewellery is available at pocket-friendly price points, and the idea is to make women buy jewellery just as they do in any other fashion category.

Adding further, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder, 9Unicorns, said, "Gold jewellery brands are aplenty in India. While traditionally, gold jewellery conjures up images of something heavy and occasion worthy only, Melorra has broken that barrier and how! By ensuring that gold becomes fashionable for every woman at every stage in her life, the brand has charted a growth path unlike any other in the segment. And the gold comes with the Melorra guarantee – of Hallmark, quality, and variety. We are happy to enable the brand to take the next steps in their journey of consistent growth."

"As Melorra continues to innovate and transform the fast-fashion jewellery business through its digital capabilities and disruptive business model, Symphony is happy to be a part of the company's continuing story as it grows to become the Indian jewellery brand of choice," said Anil Thadani, Chairman of Symphony International Holdings Limited's Investment Manager, Symphony Asia.

Ravi Dharamshi, Founder & MD, Value Quest Investment Advisors, said, "Most geniuses—especially those who lead others—prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities. Saroja is one such entrepreneur that embodies the quote 'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Melorra is not just an emerging disruptive challenger but a category creator with a strong competitive advantage, thanks to its prolific everyday designs inspired by global trends. Melorra has a large globally addressable market, demographically in a sweet spot, strong competitive advantage on design, a seasoned and passionate team, and to top it all an exponentially scalable sound business financial model."

Melorra is India's fastest growing D2C fine jewellery brand designing affordable, hallmarked, and trendy jewellery for everyday wear. The start-up's growth trajectory can be attributed to its customer-friendly policies and the fact that it is the only brand promising new lightweight gold jewellery collection every week – all of which are BIS certified. Going forward, the company will also launch its international website.