Kimaï Secures 250,000 Pound Investment on ‘Dragon’s Den’ From Steven Bartlett
Summary
It was Bartletts largest investment offer since he joined the show in 2022.He knows how to build communities, and hes young, said Warch in an interview ahead of the episode airing on Thursday night. Therefore theres less urgency to open a store there.Bartlett will be supporting Kima\xefs marketing, innovation and community growth, and helping to scale the business.They are two of the most impressive entrepreneurs I have ever seen in the Den, said Bartlett, adding that they are really incredible negotiators which is annoying as an investor, but perfect as business partners. Im happy to be in business with them.He described the duo as kind, humble, smart, tenacious and passionate.The brand gained wide public recognition in 2019 when Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex wore the Felicity earrings, a diamond-encrusted curved bar that sits horizontally across the lobe of the ear.We started with jewelry and then extended into bridal because in the early days, we didnt think bridal would work with lab-grown diamonds, said Warch.Even though lab-grown diamonds have taken off in the U.S., theyre only picking up momentum now in Europe.Kima\xef communicates with its customers via social media channels and video calls, which has accelerated the purchasing volumes of engagement rings and led to an organic increase in direct-to-consumer sales online.Mens jewelry sales have been growing, too. They feature gold links that are held together by recycled and fully traceable plastic cords, with prices starting at 445 pounds.In France, theres close to no competition. People are looking for an alternative, but theres not really a place to find lab-grown diamonds, said Warch.In 2019, Kima\xef brought on investors and completed a seed investment round of $1.2 million.That round was led by Talis Capital, whose portfolio also includes the chat-based commerce platform Threads.A number of high-profile investors including designer Rebecca Minkoff; Instacart CEO Fidji Simo; Cartier Frances former managing director Coralie De Fontenay; and billionaire businessman Xavier Niel also joined the funding round.