GIVA Raises Rs 975 Cr Led By Multiples To Cross 1,000 Stores

GIVA has raised more than $100 million, about Rs 975 crore, in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management and its co-investors. The Bengaluru-based jewellery brand called it the largest investment yet in India’s new-age jewellery market.

Existing investors Epiq Capital and Edelweiss Discovery Fund also participated. The round combines primary capital, secondary transactions and an ESOP buyback.

Who Sold and Who Stayed

Early investors India Quotient and Sixth Sense Ventures are partly exiting but keeping a portion of their holdings. Multiples will take a seat on the board.

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That structure is common in large consumer rounds. Founders get growth capital, early backers get liquidity, and the new investor gets governance without forcing a full exit.

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What GIVA Will Do With the Money

GIVA said the capital will strengthen its leadership team, build manufacturing capability and open more stores.

Manufacturing is the interesting line item. Most new-age jewellery brands outsource production, and owning it is how a design-led label controls quality and margin at scale.

Founder and chief executive Ishendra Agarwal said the backing is an endorsement of what GIVA has built since 2019 as a design-led fine jewellery brand for everyday wear and gifting.

The Store Math

GIVA’s expansion is also a bet on mall supply. Tier II cities have added organised retail space faster than metros, and jewellery brands need footfall that only a mall or a high street can deliver.

At present, GIVA runs around 425 stores across India and Sri Lanka. It plans to add about 160 stores in FY27, with a sharper focus on Tier II and Tier III cities.

The long-term target is to cross 1,000 outlets in the next three to five years.

About 70% of its current stores are in metros. Agarwal said the company will deepen its presence in Lucknow, Dehradun, Kanpur and Surat, and enter markets such as Agra.

Why Jewellery Is Moving Online

For GIVA, jewellery retail in India has been dominated by family jewellers and large chains, both of which rely on high-ticket, occasional purchases.

The GIVA model sells lower-priced fine jewellery for daily wear and gifting, with designs refreshed frequently. That is closer to fashion retail than to traditional jewellery, and it needs many small stores rather than a few large ones.

The category has also benefited from a shift in buyer behaviour. Younger consumers buy smaller pieces more often, and they research online before visiting a store.

What to Watch

The leadership hiring is the quiet part of the plan. A 585-store network by the end of FY27 needs regional managers, supply chain heads and a merchandising team that GIVA has to build from a smaller base.

The company also has to manage inventory risk as it grows. Jewellery carries high value per unit, so unsold design cycles tie up working capital that a fashion brand would simply discount away.

For GIVA, the funding is also a signal about the category. Jewellery was long considered a business that could not be scaled like apparel, and a $100 million round challenges that assumption.

Three things will decide whether this round delivers. The first is same-store sales growth, because adding 160 outlets a year only works if existing stores keep growing.

The second is whether Tier II and Tier III stores earn the same revenue per square foot as metro outlets. If they do not, the expansion slows down quickly.

The third is competition. Several funded brands are chasing the same young buyer, and jewellery design is easy to copy but hard to protect.