Bluestone.com to redefine Indian Jewellery Shopping, raises $5MM funding from top VC

Jan. 24, 2012 - PRLog -- New Delhi January 24, 2012 - BlueStone.com, an online category-defining brand for fine jewellery and accessories, makes its debut in the Indian jewellery market. The venture has attracted an initial investment of $5MM from renowned VC firm Accel Partners and serial entrepreneur Meena Ganesh, CEO & MD of Pearson Education Services.

BlueStone is founded by Vidya Nataraj and Gaurav Kushwaha to offer Indian women latest jewellery designs, a wide range of products and a fun and engaging online buying experience.  Increasingly, Women are buying latest fashion apparel, accessories, perfumes, electronics and other products online. BlueStone.com will provide a huge range of high quality jewellery that they can buy conveniently and with complete trust.

An MBA from INSEAD and having had extensive experience with family-owned Landmark Ltd (a books and lifestyle pan-India retail chain later sold to TATA Trent), Vidya's pedigree brings strong retail and consumer understanding to the table. She is married to a fifth generation jeweller, Ganesh Narayan, Joint MD of C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons.

A Computer Science engineer from IIT (Delhi) and CEO of Chakpak.com, Gaurav brings his Amazon experience in eCommerce, online marketing and technology to make BlueStone.com the leading online jewellery.

"BlueStone.com is India's first exclusive and aspirational online brand for fine jewellery and accessories aiming to give a new dimension to jewellery shopping. We are catering to the trendy and evolved Indian consumer by providing access to a large variety of carefully selected international designs by jewellery experts coupled with excellent craftsmanship, quality and shopping convenience on a trusted platform." said Vidya Nataraj, founder, BlueStone.com.

Meena Ganesh, who is one of the top women executives in India and a promoter of BlueStone, added, "BlueStone.com empowers working women who can now find great contemporary designs, affordable fashion and trusted jewellery at the convenience of
their work or home.  I am proud to be associated with BlueStone and sure that women will find excellent jewellery at the site and will love it as much as I do."

"We are very excited to be part of this unique opportunity to create a jewellery brand that combines trust with a compelling online buying experience" said Prashanth Prakash, partner of Accel Partners. "Accel has invested in several leading eCommerce companies and is confident that BlueStone.com will be the dominant online jewellery company in India.".

BlueStone.com boasts a wide repertoire of exclusive jewellery & accessories in an array of gemstones and metals that are difficult to find in conventional jewellery stores and particularly so in Tier II and III cities. Branded jewellery market is small in India and the unorganized market comes with its own problems of quality and purity; BlueStone.com overcomes this by providing international third-party laboratory certification of all its products. It also offers an attractive 30-day money-back guarantee to reinforce confidence and trust.

BlueStone.com provides an engaging visual experience that makes browsing of jewellery designs a pleasure.  It provides 360 degree experience using latest technology to provide a rich shopping experience.  This is supported by a knowledgeable customer service team that assists users in finding what they want. Going forward, substantial education resources will be available online and users will have access to detailed product reviews and user reviews that will empower the customer in making the right choice.