National News
Lab-Grown Diamond Brand Jewelbox Raises $3.2M to Fuel Nationwide Expansion
Backed by V3 Ventures and others, Kolkata-based startup aims to grow retail presence, bolster brand visibility, and expand its team across India.
Kolkata-based lab-grown diamond jewellery brand Jewelbox has secured $3.2 million in pre-Series A funding, led by V3 Ventures, with participation from Atrium Angels, Dexter Ventures, Infinyte Club, Samarthya Capital, and existing investor JITO Incubation & Innovation Foundation (JIIF).
The company, co-founded in May 2022 by siblings Vidita Kochar Jain and Nipun Kochar, plans to use the fresh capital to scale operations, enhance brand visibility, and hire talent across core functions.
Currently operating eight stores across six Indian cities—Delhi, Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Guwahati—Jewelbox is eyeing rapid growth, with a goal to expand to 30 retail locations by the end of 2025.

“The competition in the lab-grown diamond space is heating up, but we welcome it,” said Jain. “Whether it’s legacy brands, established entrepreneurs, or startups entering the space—it validates the category.”
Jewelbox, which sells its jewellery both online and offline, closed FY25 with an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of ₹38 crore, more than doubling from ₹16 crore in the previous year. The brand had earlier raised ₹3.7 crore in seed funding from JIIF in March 2024.
The funding comes at a time when lab-grown diamonds are gaining traction as a more sustainable and affordable alternative to natural diamonds. The segment is seeing increasing investor interest and consumer adoption.
The broader category is also drawing new entrants. Last month, Priyanka Gill, co-founder of the Good Glamm Group, launched Coluxe, a new lab-grown diamond brand that has already secured early-stage funding. Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based jewellery brand Giva is reportedly in talks with Creaegis to raise $80–100 million, valuing the company between $470–500 million, following its entry into lab-grown diamonds.
On the regulatory front, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently confirmed there are no plans for additional regulations, citing the industry’s healthy growth under a self-regulatory model.
Jewelbox and other emerging players—including Aukera, Giva, and Green Lab Diamonds—have also approached the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to dispute the classification of lab-grown diamonds as “synthetic,” arguing that it misrepresents their nature by equating them with lookalike simulants like cubic zirconia.
Commenting on the investment, Arjun Vaidya, co-founder and managing partner at V3 Ventures, said: “Less than 6% of Indians own diamonds today. With rising aspirations and growing awareness, lab-grown diamonds can democratize luxury in India—and Jewelbox is well-positioned to lead that change.”

National News
PNG Jewellers’ CMD Dr. Saurabh Gadgil Launches Debut Memoir ‘Choosing Gold’
~Inside the mindset that built PNG Jewellers: a sixth-generation jeweller on conviction, patience, and choosing the harder path ~
He inherited one of India’s oldest business legacies in his mid-thirties. Today, Dr. Saurabh Gadgil, Chairman and Managing Director of PNG Jewellers, tells the story of everything that came with it, in ‘Choosing Gold’, his debut memoir, released nationally by Penguin Random House India.

‘Choosing Gold’ is a deeply honest and personal book. It is the story of a man who inherited one of India’s oldest business legacies at a young age, and who has now, at forty-nine, paused to reflect on that remarkable journey. Not as the world sees it from the outside, but as he truly lived it.
The memoir traces the moments that shaped him, conversations with his grandfather and mother that stayed with him for life, lessons that revealed their meaning only with time, and difficult decisions that tested his conviction before they proved their worth. The 194-year-old legacy of PNG Jewellers forms the backdrop of this journey. But at its heart, the book is about the man himself, his growth, his choices, his struggles, and the courage it takes to carve one’s own path while honouring what came before.
Dr. Saurabh Gadgil, Chairman and Managing Director, PNG Jewellers, said:

“For most of my life, I was too busy living this journey to examine it. Writing this book forced me to sit still for the first time and ask myself questions I had avoided for nearly three decades. Which of my decisions was I actually proud of? Which ones do I still lose sleep over? What did I get right by wisdom, and what did I merely get right by luck? Choosing Gold is my honest attempt at answering those questions, without the polish, without the retrospective genius we all like to grant ourselves.
What surprised me most in writing it was discovering how much of my story was shaped in the quiet moments, a conversation with my grandfather I didn’t realise I’d remember forever, a failure I hid from everyone, including myself, and advice I dismissed at twenty-five and only truly understood decades later. Those moments made me far more than anything that shows up on a balance sheet. I wrote this book for every dreamer standing where I once stood, ambitious, uncertain, carrying expectations they never asked for, wondering if they have it in them. I don’t offer them a formula, because there isn’t one, but the truth and first-hand virtues that have traced me to where I am today … something that balance sheets won’t ever reflect. If my story helps even one reader make their next hard choice with a little more courage and a little less fear, then this book has done everything I hoped it would.”
Anuj Datta, Lead – Penguin Enterprise, Custom Publishing, Penguin Random House India, said, “As publishers, we’re always looking for stories that offer something beyond success. What struck me about Choosing Gold was its honesty. Saurabh doesn’t just talk about achievements; he reflects on the difficult decisions, setbacks and moments of doubt that shaped his journey. That’s what makes this memoir compelling. It’s not simply a business story; it’s a deeply personal account of leadership and resilience. I believe readers, whether they’re entrepreneurs, business leaders or professionals at any stage of their careers, will find something meaningful in these pages.”
‘Choosing Gold’ is Dr. Gadgil’s honest ledger of his choices, written for readers far beyond the jewellery trade, inheritors carrying weight they never asked for, first-generation entrepreneurs building without a name to lean on, and professionals at every stage confronting self-doubt head-on.

The book was formally celebrated at a private launch event in Mumbai on 6th August, where Dr. Gadgil was joined in conversation by actor Madhuri Dixit for a Q&A on the journey behind ‘Choosing Gold’.
‘Choosing Gold’ is available at all PNG Jewellers stores across India as well as pngjewellers.com and is open for pre-order on Amazon. The book will be available at leading bookstores nationwide by 31st August 2026. The Kindle edition will be available soon.
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