Why we invested in Lucira

We spent 2024 deeply evaluating the jewellery space, and Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD) in particular, asking the core question: can this category produce a ₹1000 Cr outcome in the next decade? For us, that means being one of just 3 – 4 brand bets across our entire fund cycle. High bar, especially in something as uncertain as LGD.

While we mapped the entire value chain — founders, miners, growers, retailers — the market was exploding with VC activity. Investment was flooding into many different forms of jewellery. While, we had conviction on premiumization and shifting consumer preferences, jewellery brings unique challenges that made us cautious. LGDs in particular were riddled with consumer perception issues, retailer skepticism, and significant information asymmetry.

Most concerning was the lack of clarity around brand-building in a category where traditional playbooks didn’t apply. Who even is the ideal consumer? What kind of pieces is the consumer looking for? We observed numerous players building distribution first and positioning later — an approach that raised red flags for us. So we waited.

These unanswered questions demanded a specific kind of founder. When the category equation is unsolved, a founder’s ability to thinking from first principles approach matters most. At Blume, we obsess over execution experience — people who’ve built from zero before. In a space as opaque and complex as jewellery, we needed someone who’d navigated this complexity already. The ideal founder, per our thesis, would need to balance bold, uncommon strategic bets with a measured approach to brand & consumer education, all while managing capital efficiency. No wonder we held on for 14 months!

From my first meeting with Rupesh in February, the balance was obvious. Here was a founder who had built an online-first business (in natural diamonds!) and sold it to one of the largest jewellery houses in the country. He had navigated constraints to build a solid business and rubbed shoulders with some of the finest founders in the country. And yet, I could sense a hunger to build something large and everlasting. Our first conversation didn’t stop at product or target audience — we talked about India needing its own Cartier legacy.

His approach distinguished itself by several key factors: a clear intent to position Lucira as a jewellery brand rather than only an LGD retailer and a commitment to building a genuinely differentiated brand story rather than following the crowd. Second-time entrepreneurs skip predictable mistakes and bypass the usual founder rites of passage. Rupesh has this advantage in spades. We believe Rupesh and Vandana can create both a household name and a sustainable business in jewellery — a rare combination in today’s market.

This marks our largest consumer brand investment to date — a reflection of our confidence in the founding team’s ability to execute in complexity. In a category as nascent as LGDs, we’re not just betting on market share capture but on category creation itself. The winners here won’t just build successful businesses; they’ll fundamentally reshape how consumers think about luxury, value, and authenticity in jewellery. And we believe Rupesh and Vandana are the best positioned to create this magic.