Press Releases

Venture Capital Embraces Revolutionary Diamond Tech Startup

Patented reverse auction technology offers unique and efficient diamond sourcing solutions for jewelry businesses.

Published

12 months ago

May 3, 2023

Press Releases

(PRESS RELEASE) NEW YORK — Historically venture capital players have shied away from investments in the diamond and jewelry sectors, but the patented technology created by Liquid Diamonds (US Patent 7792723), was just too enticing to resist. They have created a co-pilot for diamond sourcing using a proprietary reverse auction system combined with AI-driven predictive analysis.

“Liquid Diamonds is transforming the way wholesale diamonds are bought and sold by eliminating the hassles associated with manual, back-and-forth quoting and providing superior global market visibility across the range of diamond categories,” said Rob Mihalko, Angel Investor and Venture partner at NextGen Venture Partners.“Liquid Diamond’s unique matching technology and deep industry expertise positions it as an industry leader. Companies like Liquid Diamonds are making B2B markets more efficient by providing a better overall experience for business buyers and sellers alike.”

Kashyap Mehta, CEO of Liquid Diamonds, has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Virginia and spent time in the gaming industry as a Senior Software Engineer at Electronic Arts (EA) before founding Liquid Diamonds. His family has been in the diamond industry for over 50 years. Chetan Gupta, the company’s CTO, graduated from the prestigious IIT Kanpur and created the AI-driven Diamond Predictive Analysis platform for the company. Mark Molloy was the Chief Architect for the company and instrumental in the development of the patented double auction technology.

“I invested in Liquid Diamonds because of Kashyap Mehta’s experience and vision. Liquid Diamonds solves for diamond buyers’ biggest headaches by offering better prices, selection, convenience, and trust thanks to its network of high-quality suppliers,” said Joe Magyer, managing partner of Seaplane Ventures.

Liquid Diamonds universal, continuous double auction tech is a game-changing moat. A buyer can bid on all acceptable alternatives, at different prices, at the same time. They see a real-time view of both the competing supply of sellers and the competing demand of buyers. Liquid Diamonds has raised the bar for diamond market efficiency and transparency.

“Diamond buyers that source for programs know that when they go into the market to buy many diamonds of the same category, it ends up moving the market and cutting their margins” says Kashyap. “Liquid Diamonds is solving this problem by using our reverse auction system to purchase in volumes without disrupting the market by accessing the long tail of supply. Diamond buyers buy from multiple suppliers by aggregating purchases through a single window”.

Even in the normally secretive diamond space, those customers are singing their praise out loud:

Nirav Doshi, Head of Diamond Division at Jewelex NY says “We run goods for program orders, we run goods for stock orders and having access to multitude of suppliers and having the Liquid Diamonds platform negotiate on behalf of us – all done systematically and digitally – has made our lives a lot easier”.

Doshi added: “The fact that they still have humans doing the QC and going through every stone gives us assurance that we’re still getting the right diamond, we’re not just buying papers, and we’re seeing the freshest goods the instant they are available.”

Furthermore, Liquid Diamonds is providing dynamic access to market trends and forecasting using proprietary bid/ask spread and combining it with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning. AI is being integrated into various industries across the world and transforming the way businesses operate, automate processes, and make decisions. It has the potential to revolutionize industries by driving innovation, improving efficiency, and enabling new business models. As technology continues to advance, AI is expected to play an increasingly prominent role in various sectors, shaping the future of work and transforming industries in profound ways.

And now it has come to the jewelry industry thanks to Liquid Diamonds.

So far, they have primarily worked with diamond buyers at jewelry manufacturing and diamond wholesale companies. With this recent funding, Liquid Diamonds is looking to expand to jewelry retailers to help them source diamonds using a tech and data-driven co-pilot.

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Retirement is never easy, especially when it means the end to a business that was founded in 1884. But for Laura and Sam Sipe, it was time to put their own needs first. They decided to close J.C. Sipe Jewelers, one of Indianapolis’ most trusted names in fine jewelry, and call Wilkerson. “Laura and I decided the conditions were right,” says Sam. Wilkerson handled every detail in their going-out-of-business sale, from marketing to manning the sales floor. “The main goal was to sell our existing inventory that’s all paid for and turn that into cash for our retirement,” says Sam. “It’s been very, very productive.” Would they recommend Wilkerson to other jewelers who want to enjoy their golden years? Absolutely! “Call Wilkerson,” says Laura. “They can help you achieve your goals so you’ll be able to move into retirement comfortably.”