Taylor & Hart, the digital-first bespoke jewellery business, has raised £3.5m in funding from Virgin Money, Active Partners and private investment platform Seedrs.
The Bulgarian-founded, London-based jeweller takes a digital-first approach, which allows customers to create a bespoke engagement ring in a more sustainable way.
Taylor & Hart is one of the first jewellery companies globally to use blockchain to enable customers to track every step of the diamond’s journey.
The investment will be used by the company to further develop its state-of-the-art technology offering which ensures the authenticity of its gemstones.
Taylor & Hart founder and CEO, Nikolay Piriankov, said: “Taylor & Hart was born to disrupt the opaque and conventional ring shopping experience by creating unique, meaningful rings for our customers which are designed to be passed down through generations with a service that is truly omnichannel.
“We’re delighted to have Virgin Money and Seedrs investors supporting us with this new round of funding alongside the continued support of our lead investor Active Partners.
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“This next phase of growth is really exciting as we work towards fulfilling our mission to become the global destination for bespoke engagement rings.”
Alongside this desire for personalisation, consumers are increasingly purchasing jewellery digitally, with online demand growing at 15 per cent a year, and millennial and Gen-Z buyers have the drive to shop consciously.
This growing interest in sustainability is increasing demand to understand the provenance of gemstones and accelerating the growth of lab-grown diamonds, which accounted for 10 per cent of global diamond jewellery sales last year, up from 2 per cent in 2018.
Since launching in 2014, Taylor & Hart has consistently reported a NPS score in excess of 85 per cent.
Revenue has also grown above £10m while the company also won the title of ‘Jewellery Team of the Year’ in 2022 at the Professional Jeweller Awards.
The new funds will be used to drive growth towards becoming the leading online destination for bespoke engagement rings.
With a team of 65 across four countries and customers in the UK, USA and Europe, the brand will focus on expanding internationally, building the Taylor & Hart brand and scaling its bespoke tech offering.