Ethera, a Bengaluru‑based lab‑grown diamond jewellery brand founded in 2024 by Nitesh Jain and Sharad Arora, has raised ₹25 crore from BlueStone to accelerate retail expansion in India’s direct‑to‑consumer market. The funding is BlueStone’s second investment in Ethera and underscores investor conviction in the brand’s luxury design focus and eco‑friendly positioning.

  • Amount: ₹25 crore equity investment
  • Investor: BlueStone (second investment in Ethera)
  • Company: Ethera — Bengaluru, founded 2024 (founders: Nitesh Jain, Sharad Arora)
  • Category: Lab‑grown diamond jewellery, D2C retail expansion
  • Strategic use: funding to open more stores and scale retail footprint

Context: lab‑grown diamonds and D2C retail in 2025–26

The Ethera round sits squarely within a broader shift: consumers and investors are treating lab‑grown diamonds as a distinct retail category rather than a direct substitution of natural stones. For brands that launched with a D2C model, external capital is increasingly deployed to build physical presence—an acknowledgement that curated in‑store experiences remain important for higher‑price, design‑led jewellery. Ethera’s emphasis on luxury design and eco‑friendly credentials maps to current purchase drivers among modern buyers who value provenance and production impact alongside aesthetics.

Impact: what retailers, wholesalers and investors should note

For Indian and regional retailers, BlueStone’s follow‑on commitment to Ethera signals that backers expect store expansion to materially influence growth and brand equity. Wholesale partners and multi‑brand retailers should anticipate stronger D2C competition in the lab‑grown segment as digitally native brands scale into physical retail: merchandising will need to reconcile online clarity with in‑store tactility and assurance.

Investors should read the round as a validation of category economics for lab‑grown jewellery when paired with a clear retail strategy. For incumbents and new entrants, the practical implications are straightforward: prioritize inventory mixes that support in‑store conversion, prepare margin models that accommodate physical retail costs, and refine messaging around sustainability and design quality to differentiate within a crowded market.

Ethera’s ₹25 crore raise from BlueStone is modest in headline size but strategic in timing — it consolidates the brand’s D2C base and funds the next phase of physical expansion, a choice that will shape competitive dynamics in India’s lab‑grown diamond retail segment.

Image Referance: https://pulse.d2cinsider.com/ethera-raises-%E2%82%B925-crore-from-bluestone-to-accelerate-retail-expansion-in-indias-lab-grown-diamond-d2c-market/