B2B jeweller Krizz to raise funds from PE for Rs 800 cr expansion

Company to open 40 B2B outlets nationwide, will cut out wholesalers and sell directly to jewellery retailers

Krizz, a unit of Kanish Gold Pvt Ltd, is planning to set up around 40 business-to-business showrooms across the country to offer jewellery to the retail jewelleries in the country, with an estimated investment of around Rs 800 crore. The company is examining options to raise funds from private equity or similar avenues, to support this, said Bhupesh Jain, chairman and managing director, Krizz.

The company, which has set up a high tech jewellery manufacturing unit near Chennai in 2010, has been supplying its products through wholesalers to retail jewellery showrooms. It had around 52 wholesalers attached to it and now has elimited the layer completely, he said.

 

"So far we have been selling through wholesalers. Now we will sell directly to the jewellery showrooms through the B2B outlets, which would increase our margins," he said. While earlier the company had a margin of 4-6 per cent, the new business model would increase it to 6-10 per cent, he added.

It has launched its first B2B showroom in Chennai, which is also the largest with 3,500 sq ft, housing over 350 kg worth of jewellery to choose from, adding over 4000 new designs every month. Plans are to set up showrooms in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and one in Dubai in next two to three months.

It currently has various retail jewellery brands as its customers, including Joy Alukkas, Malabar Jewellery and GRT, based in Chennai.

The business plan for 2015-2017 is to setup 40 B2B showrooms, 37 in India and one each in Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia, he said. Last year, the company achieved a turnover of Rs 1,700 crore. This year, they expect to grow to Rs 3800 crore turnover and in 2016-2017, to Rs 6000 crore.