The Fact Maker

Aulerth, the world’s first-of-a-kind high-fashion, digital-first jewelry startup, raises seed funding from M Venture Partners and investors including Tarun Tahiliani, and Taro Nordheider, ex-CEO Swarovski Professional, ex-McKinsey Partner

Raises seed funding of USD 1.1 Mn to build a strong foundation and traction for its genre of couture inspired and consciously made jewelry

  • Offers jewelry that is couture-inspired and consciously made, Aulerth is addressing the highly destructive impact of mining precious metals and stones for jewelry in a novel way
  • Aulerth aims to lead a new movement for jewelry in India, a 60+ USD bn jewelry market, and the second-largest consumer of gold and diamonds in the world
  • Offers responsible statement jewelry, for weddings and evening occasions, with exceptional style, quality, longevity, and craftsmanship with a lifetime service proposition
  • Has already onboarded incredible designers including Suneet Varma, JJ Valaya, Tribe Amrapali as its initial strategic partners
  • The company will also offer a “renew” service. Even after 12 months of use, AULERTH will accept pieces in return for a percentage of the creation’s value as credit units to use for the next purchase
  • Other investors include  a network of present and ex-McKinsey Partners – Movelum Gmbh (Morten Klumb), Viktor Hediger, Satya Rao, Akhil Jain, Mohit Jain, Raman Thiagarajan, and angel investors – Shanti Mohan, Founder – LetsVenture, Vikas Choudhury – President Reliance Jio, Deepa Bhatia (Head of YouGov India), Nishant Rao (Avataar Venture Partners), Upasna Dash (Founder & CEO of Jajabor Brand Consultancy), and others.

Delhi : Aulerth , a homegrown startup and the world’s first of its kind platform, has raised 1.1 USD Mn as seed funding from M Venture Partners, ace designer Tarun Tahiliani, Taro Nordheider (ex-CEO Swarovski Professional), the LV angel fund, and a network of McKinsey partners. By offering jewelry that is couture-inspired and consciously made, Aulerth is addressing the highly destructive impact of mining precious metals and stones for jewelry in a novel way. Overall, mining for gold alone generates nearly 150 mn T of carbon emissions, and nearly 6 bn T of toxic waste, besides significant ecological damage. Adding to this impact is the mining of diamonds and gemstones.

Founded by Vivek Ramabhadran, Aulerth aims to lead a new movement for jewelry in India, a 60+ USD bn jewelry market, and the second-largest consumer of gold and diamonds in the world. Vivek brings 20 years of experience, including a decade of experience in fashion and jewelry at Swarovski as Vice President and Managing Director for South Asia (spanning Middle East, India, South East Asia), and a prior stint at McKinsey. Aulerth offers responsible statement jewelry with exceptional style, quality, longevity, and craftsmanship with a lifetime service proposition – all engineered to have a minimal mining footprint with its use of recycled metals and man-made stones.

The platform builds up strategic partnerships with leading designers and aims to showcase the best of Indian aesthetics to a global audience. Aulerth has already onboarded incredible designers including Suneet Varma, JJ Valaya, Tribe Amrapali as strategic partners whose collections are now live. The company’s unique partnership model is the perfect foundation for ideal synergistic effort in developing winning products and marketing them effectively. Under this model, AULERTH will empower designer brands with access to scalable categories, best manufacturers, and work hand-in-hand to develop designer-branded products, run operations, marketing, and distribution.

Vivek Ramabhadran, Founder-AULERTH, said, “We are on an eternal pursuit of bridging seemingly disparate worlds of being couture-inspired, and consciously made. Our core point is: we don’t need to go through the destruction to create jewelry that we cherish as precious – there is a more responsible way. We are also extremely excited to work closely with leading designer stalwarts on this pursuit, and scale up their businesses in India and globally.”

Hiran Embuldeniya, Partner – M Venture Partners, said, “Vivek brings the leadership calibre and experience to unlock this significant market opportunity. Built on a solid foundation, Aulerth is well-positioned to drive disruption in the Indian and global luxury space over the next few years. MVP is excited to lead the seed round for Aulerth, and be partnering with him on this journey.”

Ace designer Tarun Tahiliani said, “Much needed, Aulerth will break the mould and redefine India’s approach to jewelry preciousness. Vivek brings a unique combination of strategic acumen and deep understanding of fashion, jewelry, and the designer space. He has blended sustainability and desirability beautifully into Aulerth, and I look forward to this platform being a progressive highly relevant leader in the Indian and global luxury landscape soon.”

The company will also offer a “renew” service. Even after 12 months of use, AULERTH will accept pieces in return for a percentage of the creation’s value as credit units to use for the next purchase. In turn, Aulerth restores the used piece in the market, within the sustainability spirit of furthering the lifecycle of the product. Other investors include  a network of present and ex-McKinsey Partners – Movelum Gmbh (Morten Klumb), Viktor Hediger, Satya Rao, Akhil Jain, Mohit Jain, Raman Thiagarajan, and angel investors – Shanti Mohan, Founder – LetsVenture, Vikas Choudhury – President Reliance Jio, Deepa Bhatia (Head of YouGov India), Nishant Rao (Avataar Venture Partners), Upasna Dash (Founder & CEO of Jajabor Brand Consultancy), and others.

Aulerth’s philosophy is centered on four pillars: 1) Responsibility: To significantly reduce the mining footprint of its jewelry by using metals recycled from industrial scrap, and largely man-made (vs. mined) stones. 2) Preciousness: Each statement jewel is high on design, meticulously crafted, and an enriched manifestation of the respective designer’s couture signature. 3) Mindful materialism: Materialism can be mindful – Aulerth’s jewels have an eternal lifetime, whether it’s with a single client or multiple. Towards this, Aulerth offers a lifetime warranty, and a service wherein a client can “renew” their jewelry by trading an older jewel in, which in turn gets restored and a new life with another client. 4) Progressive: Aulerth advocates a new way to value jewelry, to establish preciousness – that which is linked to design, creativity, and craft, vs. materials.