First Cheque Scores Impressive 75x Return in GIVA Jewellery Investment

• ByStartupStory     |    September 11, 2023

First Cheque, an early-stage venture capital firm, has made a partial exit from its investment in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) jewelry brand GIVA Jewellery, yielding an impressive return of 75 times the initial investment, according to Prateek Agarwal, Investment Lead at the VC firm. First Cheque, based in Bengaluru, had invested in Giva in 2019, becoming one of the earliest institutional investors to support the jewelry brand. The exact details of First Cheque’s stake in Giva were not disclosed.

“Giva is one of the first companies in our portfolio to deliver close to 100X returns and stands to show the potential of returns that early-stage investors could generate. The business has grown substantially over the last few years and their current round is a testament to that performance. We strongly believe that our current leftover stake in Giva itself will help us return 1X of the fund,” he said.

This development comes shortly after Titan acquired the remaining 27.18% stake in CaratLane for Rs 4,621 crore, marking one of the significant founder exits in the jewelry sector. This exit underscores the positive sentiment towards the new-age jewelry market, driven by increased discretionary spending and a modern perspective on jewelry.

Giva faces competition from other players in the market, including CaratLane, Bluestone (backed by Accel), and Melorra (backed by Symphony Asia Holdings). First Cheque’s exit from Giva is part of the latter’s Rs 200 crore Series B fundraising round led by Premji Invest, which was announced in July. Existing investors, such as Aditya Birla Ventures, Alteria Capital, and A91 Partners, also participated in the round.

Giva, founded in 2019 by Ishendra Agarwal, Nikita Prasad, and Sachin Shetty, specializes in silver jewelry curated by designers from around the world. The company has a presence in over 50 offline stores in India and plans to expand its omnichannel strategy. It aims to leverage increased consumer spending and expand its distribution network to reach a broader audience.

First Cheque’s exit from Giva represents its first significant success in its startup portfolio. The firm, which is sector-agnostic, has made over 130 investments since its inception four years ago. It launched Fund II with around Rs 38 crore (~$5 million) from global investors and has invested in over 30 startups across various sectors, including B2B marketplaces, consumer internet, fintech, and SaaS. One of its portfolio companies, CapGrid, recently closed a $7 million funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners. 

The firm has plans to invest in 18-20 companies across sectors in the next 8-9 months. “We plan to invest $100K as a part of larger rounds ($300K – $800K),” Agarwal added.

Follow Startup Story