London jewellery brand shines bright with £3.5m investment to expand digital capacity

A London based jewellery business has announced it has raised £3.5m to bring its bespoke, ethically sourced engagement rings to consumers around the world.

Taylor & Hart, will use the investment from Virgin Money, Active Partners and investment platform Seedrs, to further develop its technology offering which ensures the authenticity of its gemstones and enables a seamless customer experience, as well as grow internationally and increase brand awareness.

Nikolay Piriankov, CEO and founder of Taylor & Hart 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.”

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.

Consumers are increasingly purchasing jewellery digitally, with online demand growing at 15 per cent 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 per cent of global diamond jewellery sales last year.