Bengaluru-based lab-grown diamond jewellery brand ONYA has raised ₹5.5 crore in a pre-seed funding round, with early-stage investor Zeropearl VC leading the cheque. The capital will be deployed to scale the company’s offline presence and build out more “customer-first” experience stores in key Indian cities.
ONYA: A focused pre-seed bet on design-led lab-grown jewellery
According to the company, the pre-seed round is aimed squarely at taking ONYA’s offline strategy beyond its early footprint. Rather than chasing a purely online D2C play, the brand is investing in physical touchpoints where customers can experience lab-grown diamond jewellery in person before they buy.
Zeropearl VC has led the round, signalling conviction in ONYA’s attempt to position lab-grown diamonds as a premium, design-forward category rather than a discount alternative to mined stones. Founder Himani Yadav said the backing gives the team sharper direction at an early stage of the journey.
Being supported by Zeropearl VC and its founder Bipin Shah, who has long experience investing in consumer brands including jewellery, brings “immense value and clarity” to ONYA’s roadmap, Yadav said. She added that ONYA fits naturally into Zeropearl’s “Indiluxe” thesis, which backs Indian brands building modern, premium products for domestic consumers.
The partnership, she noted, strengthens the company’s confidence in taking “thoughtfully designed lab-grown diamonds to more homes across India.”
Angel investors from consumer-tech and flexible workspace
The round has also drawn a set of individual backers from India’s consumer-tech ecosystem. Participants include the founders of neighbourhood security and community app MyGate, Vijay Arishetty, Abhishek Kumar, Shreyans Daga and Rohit Jindal, along with UrbanVault founder Amal Mishra.
Industry player Alkendra Pratap Singh, Managing Director of Crescendo Industries Pvt. Ltd. and Director at KE Engineers Pvt. Ltd., has also joined the cap table, alongside other unnamed angels.
For ONYA, this mix of investors brings not just capital but exposure to how Indian consumers interact with trusted brands in their homes, buildings and workspaces, all environments where jewellery buying decisions are increasingly influenced by lifestyle and aspiration.
Zeropearl VC’s Indiluxe lens: design-first, offline-first
Explaining the rationale for the bet, Bipin Shah, Founder and Managing Partner at Zeropearl VC, said the firm looks for founders who deeply understand the problem they are solving, and that Himani Yadav’s clarity stood out from day one.
He pointed out that ONYA is already showing early signs of cracking an “offline and design-first approach” in the premium lab-grown diamond space. That approach, he said, is closely aligned with Zeropearl VC’s Indiluxe thesis, which focuses on next-generation Indian premium brands.
Shah also underlined a broader shift in consumer behaviour: young Indians are rethinking what jewellery means to them and how they want to buy it. In his view, ONYA is building “right at that inflection point”, with a sharp focus on design and what he described as “customer obsession”. He added that the firm sees ONYA as a potential gateway into more premium, next-generation consumer categories over time.
IGI-certified lab-grown diamonds in BIS Hallmarked gold
ONYA’s product proposition sits at the intersection of scientific precision and traditional jewellery making. The brand’s pieces use IGI-certified lab-grown diamonds set in BIS Hallmarked gold, bringing together standardised quality assurance on both the stone and the metal.
By foregrounding certification and hallmarked gold, ONYA is attempting to address two persistent concerns among Indian jewellery buyers: authenticity and trust. While lab-grown diamonds are created in controlled environments rather than mined from the earth, they are chemically and physically similar to natural diamonds; certification helps signal that equivalence to customers.
The company emphasises design as a key differentiator, framing its collections as contemporary jewellery that fits into everyday wardrobes as well as special occasions.
Expansion: more stores, wider product lines
With the fresh capital, ONYA plans to broaden both where it sells and what it sells.
On the retail front, the company intends to accelerate its offline expansion across major Indian cities and open more “customer-first experience stores” where shoppers can interact with the brand, understand lab-grown diamonds, and try pieces in person.
Alongside this footprint expansion, ONYA will also expand its product lines, adding more designs and collections within its lab-grown diamond portfolio. The goal is to serve a wider range of occasions and budgets while retaining a premium positioning anchored in certified stones and hallmarked gold.
Building at an inflection point for Indian jewellery
While the funding round is at a pre-seed stage in absolute capital terms, it marks a strategic vote of confidence in a niche that sits between legacy jewellery houses and mass-market fashion accessories.
The signals from both the founder and lead investor are clear: ONYA is betting that Indian consumers, especially younger buyers, are ready to embrace lab-grown diamonds, provided the category is delivered with credible quality marks, strong design and a reassuring in-store experience.
How the brand executes on its offline expansion and product roadmap will determine whether this pre-seed cheque becomes the foundation for a larger play in India’s evolving premium jewellery landscape.
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