Taylor & Hart, the digital-first bespoke jewellery business, today announces it has raised £3.5 million in funding from Active Partners, Virgin Money and private investment platform Seedrs. The investment will be used to support Taylor & Hart’s intentions to further develop its state-of-the-art technology offering which ensures the authenticity of its gemstones and enables a seamless customer experience, as well as grow internationally and increase brand awareness.
Consumer demands on the jewellery industry, and particularly engagement rings, have shifted in recent years from price-driven, commoditised rings to unique or branded designer jewellery. Alongside this desire for personalisation, consumers are increasingly purchasing jewellery digitally, with online demand growing at 15% CAGR, 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% of global diamond jewellery sales last year, up from 2% in 2018. As consumer trends around jewellery evolve, the potential for ethical brands is huge.
Taylor & Hart is uniquely placed to serve conscious and digitally savvy consumers with its transparent, digital-first, collaborative design process which allows customers to create a bespoke engagement ring in a more sustainable way. As one of the first jewellery companies globally to use blockchain to enable customers to track every step of the diamond’s journey, Taylor & Hart creates an unchangeable record for each precious stone. This increases the visibility of the diamond’s provenance and accelerates transparency. The brand has also seen a rapid increase in lab-grown diamond purchases, with demand growing over 200% year on year.
Since launching in 2014, Taylor & Hart has been taking the jewellery market by storm with an NPS score consistently exceeding 85 and annualised revenue now greater than £10 million. 2022 also saw the brand win ‘Jewellery Team of the Year’ at the Professional Jeweller Awards, a coveted award within the industry.
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.
Taylor & Hart Founder & 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. This next phase of growth is really exciting as we work towards fulfilling our mission to become the global destination for bespoke engagement rings.”
