New Delhi: Jewellery retailer BlueStone will use the majority of its recently raised funds to expand its footprint across the country, the company’s founder and CEO, Gaurav Singh Kushwaha told ETRetail.
The company currently has around 178 stores across the country, as compared to 155 stores at the end of last year. As per reports, the chief executive plans to have 500-600 stores eventually.
Commenting on the company’s expansion strategy, Kushwaha said, “The main objective of these stores is to create an omnichannel layer for the online intent which already exists. We are right now present in 70+ cities and we are not only going deeper but also wider.”
The startup which started as an online jewellery business, has been aggressively opening physical stores and strengthening its omnichannel play. Explaining the strategy, Kushwaha said that the company’s revenue mix is ‘intertwined,’ as 80-90 per cent of BlueStone’s revenue originates online.
“Customers first interact with us online and then they come to buy at our stores. It is a multichannel behavior, where each channel is playing a different role in bringing the same transaction.”
BlueStone recently closed a Rs 550 crore funding round from existing and new investors including Nikhil Kamath, Ranjan Pai, Amit Jain, Deepinder Goyal, 360 One, and Info Edge Ventures. Reportedly, the company was valued at USD 440 million.
Last year the jewellery retailer raised USD 30 million at a valuation of USD 378 million.
Commenting on the need for rapid fundraising, Kushwaha said, “Our business nature is such that we need to invest in inventory, for which, we need capital. The funds are mainly for balance sheet requirements…not for burning.”
He further highlighted that the company is month-on-month EBITDA positive.
BlueStone closed FY23 at a revenue of Rs 760-770 crore. This fiscal, the online jewellery firm is eyeing a 70-80 per cent growth, reaching around Rs 1,300 crore revenue.
