It’s a quintessential New York story. Two founders were at brunch discussing their discontent with the jewelry standards – low quality, overpriced “gold” jewelry that had been turning their fingers green. The duo, who met while at graduate school at Princeton, set out to turn the jewelry marketplace upside down by launching AUrate in 2015. Founded by Sophie Kahn and Bouchra Ezzahraoui, the online, direct-to-consumer marketplace sells high-quality and accessible gold jewelry and is growing 400% year-over-year.
AlleyWatch caught up with these cofounders to discuss AUrate’s success and recent funding round that brings the total funding amount to $15.6M.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Our $13M raise, the largest Series A in fine jewelry to date, was led by Michael Platt’s Bluecrest Capital along with Point King Capital, Arab Angel Fund, and Drake Management.
What inspired you to start AUrate?
Both of us were disappointed with the fine jewelry offerings and the extremes in the market – low quality with high markups – and happened to discuss over brunch one day comparing how our jewelry (that was supposedly pure gold) had turned our fingers green. We decided right then that we needed to turn the industry on its head and really place the consumer, high quality, and ethics at the center of our brand.
What market does AUrate target and how big is it?
What’s so exciting about Aurate is we’re creating a new market, blending consumers in the luxury market with those who might be buying gold for the first time. We get to educate our customers about the quality that they should expect, while also delivering that quality in an accessible way.
What’s your business model?
We consider ourselves direct-to-consumer, but we’ve always stressed that we put our woman first, so we’ve consciously scaled with an omnichannel approach keeping high quality, ethically sourced materials, and conscious designs at the heart of everything.
How has the business changed since we last spoke after AUrate’s seed round in 2017?
Well firstly, our team has doubled in size! But on the business side, since 2017 we’ve launched the first ever at-home jewelry try-on box allowing you to test out five of our pieces at home for a week, and we’re experiencing 400% year-over-year growth.
What was the funding process like?
Interesting to say the least! In a male-dominated industry, pitching a female-focused product as two female cofounders is no small feat.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The main challenge for us was distraction from the day-to-day and business as a whole. Raising capital is a full-time job. Managing an entire team and growing business on top of that is a big undertaking, but luckily it didn’t take us long and we found incredible partners who believe in the brand as much as we do. For us, it was about finding the right partners, not finding money.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Three main factors: unique positioning through the market we’ve created, efficiency whether it be through maintaining a profitable retail network or remaining profitable at first purchase, and loyalty – our retention is over 40% and the AUrate community is full of extremely loyal customers which speaks to our products and cause.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We plan to open 2-3 stores in the next six months, hire 2-3 key new roles, and launch our first national marketing campaign.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Stay lean, hang in there, show what you can do, maintain your grit and tenacity, and persevere no matter the circumstance.
Stay lean, hang in there, show what you can do, maintain your grit and tenacity, and persevere no matter the circumstance.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
With this capital injection, we’re putting fuel to fire and the pedal to the metal – really doubling down on what’s been working!
Where is your favorite bar in the city for an after work drink?
The Standard East (Narcissa’s garden is a mini-escape from the craziness of NYC).
