Kensington Invests in Jewlr

Technology-Driven Mass Customization Brand Disrupting Jewelry Industry

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2022 /CNW/ - Kensington Private Equity Fund is pleased to announce the completion of a significant investment in Jewlr, a leading DTC ecommerce retailer that designs and manufactures personalized, made-to-order jewelry at scale.

Founded in 2009 and backed by early investor Brightspark Ventures, Jewlr has served more than a million customers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Jewlr's mass-customization capability is driven by its proprietary technology platform developed by its wholly-owned Safyre Labs subsidiary.

Jewlr lets customers be the designer, offering custom-made personalized fine jewelry. The proprietary technology allows customers to create their unique piece of jewelry and visualize it in real-time 3D before they place their order. With thousands of designs available, customers can choose silver or gold, select from a vast inventory of gemstones, and personalize with meaningful engravings.

Based in Toronto, Canada, Jewlr manufactures all jewelry in their state-of-the-art facilities in Canada and the USA, ensuring that materials are ethically sourced and made in fair working conditions. It also allows direct control over production, so customers receive their made-to-order jewelry in days – not weeks. With no middlemen, jewelry is priced much lower than retail.

"Jewlr prides itself on delivering an exceptional customer experience. Our innovative user-friendly technology that customers interact with to personalize their jewelry really sets us apart. We custom manufacture and deliver in days, all backed by friendly and helpful customer service. Customer experience is our ultimate priority which drives our innovation." says Daniel Stoppel, Jewlr CEO.

"We are impressed with the rapid growth in Jewlr's business and profitability as the company continues to scale," says Kensington Senior Managing Director, Rick Nathan, "Their technology-driven approach to mass customization through integrated sales and manufacturing systems creates a strong foundation for market leadership."

"We are excited to welcome Kensington as an important new partner in our business," said Stoppel. "We look forward to working together on the next stage of Jewlr's growth and development."

In connection with the transaction, Rick Nathan has joined the company's board, alongside Kensington Managing Director, Liam Cheung.

About Jewlr
Jewlr is a leading direct-to-consumer retailer specializing in the design and manufacturing of personalized jewelry. Founded in 2009 by technology entrepreneurs, Jewlr has transformed the jewelry shopping experience by using proprietary technology to give customers the ability to create and instantly preview custom jewelry. Every Jewlr item is then made to order using 3D printing and traditional hand crafting to deliver high quality personalized jewelry in just a few days. www.jewlr.com 

About Safyre Labs
Based in Toronto, Canada, Safyre Labs is an ecommerce and ERP platform, designed to manage the selling and manufacturing of custom made products. The scalable Safyre platform hosts two DTC ecommerce brands, Jewlr and Lee Fiori, to offer customers an innovative personalized jewelry experience.  Safyre Labs is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jewlr.  www.safyrelabs.com 

About Kensington Capital Partners
Founded in 1996, Kensington Capital Partners Limited is an employee-owned, high performing alternative investment firm with offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. Kensington's mission is to build great businesses, and in doing so, create top-performing investment solutions for its investors. Kensington has assets under management of $2.3 billion, managed across several active funds. https://www.kcpl.ca/

About Brightspark
Brightspark Ventures is one of Canada's top performing venture capital firms, actively investing in exceptional entrepreneurs since 1999. They provide growth capital and expertise to disruptive, market-transforming Canadian tech companies in seed to growth stages. Since inception, Brightspark has invested across traditional VC Funds, and more recently under an investment model open to individual and non-institutional investors. www.brightspark.com

SOURCE Kensington Capital Partners Limited