TrueFacet, a New York-based startup that hosts an online marketplace for luxury jewelry, today announced a $2.7 million funding round led by Seattle-based venture capital firm Maveron.
Freestyle Capital also led the round, which included participation from previous investors Social Leverage and Seattle-based Founders’ Co-op. Total funding is now $4.5 million for TrueFacet, which graduated from the most recent Techstars Seattle class.
The startup provides an online marketplace and authentication process for users to buy and sell luxury jewelry and watches. It discounts prices by up to 70 percent off retail and also lets people sell jewelry on its site, paying the seller up to 80 percent of the resale value.
TrueFacet had one of our favorite pitches at the Techstars Seattle Demo Day this past November.
“When I spent over eight years in the jewelry industry, I noticed every single day when people were shopping and selling pre-owned jewelry, they did not know if they were getting an authentic item or a great price,” TrueFacet CEO Tirath Kamdar said during his pitch. “We built TrueFacet to solve this and have done over $280,000 in gross market sales in our first six months alone. Today, I’m going to tell you why we are going to be the winners in this $70 billion jewelry space.”
TrueFacet is seeing an average of 20 percent month-over-month growth for gross merchandise volume since launching last year and now has more than 20,000 items on its site with thousands of sellers.
“We are very selective in the companies that we choose to invest in and we see TrueFacet as a high-potential company that’s already disrupting the luxury jewelry industry,” Maveron Partner Jason Stoffer said in a statement. “Tirath has a unique advantage in building this business – bringing together his digital experience with his family’s history as a supplier of fine jewelry to some of the world’s leading luxury brands.”
TrueFacet will use the fresh funding to hire employees and grow its platform.
