Jewellery marketplace aims to launch the JumkeyGirl phenomenon

The interesting aspect about the fast growth of the jewellery market (expected to double by 2018, when it will be worth US$ 81.61-86.51 billion) is not just the fact that it is attracting more entrepreneurs, investments and customers. Technology makes the whole scenario more unpredictable, paving the way for unprecedented creativity and innovation.

Saying that Jumkey is an online jewellery marketplace is not enough. Founder Kavya Thejasvini is planning to turn it into a whole phenomenon named JumkeyGirl and she is not going to spare any social network to pursue her goal.

Kavya describes herself as “excessively obsessed with jewellery” and “a regular visitor to local jewellery exhibitions.” It was during these exhibitions that she noticed the large number of talented jewellery designers from all across India who neither had a store nor an online presence to sell their products.

“Jumkey platform is a win-win ecosystem for customers who can discover all types of jewellery across India here. At the other end, there are jewellery designers who can easily showcase and sell jewellery 24X7 throughout the year,” says Kavya. “It connects talented jewellery designers, jewellery artists, craftsmen, wholesalers, retailers and the largest brands.”

Kavya is not a techie. At the end of 2014, she joined Ninjaas, a mobile-focused internet company which provides support to emerging start ups, as an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence). She was very clear about her intention to start her venture with a mobile app and this is exactly what she did. It took her some time to persuade the whole Ninjaas. team about the validity of this idea. However, they eventually agreed and launched the app, which is now available on both Android and iOS. Purchases made through the app are currently the main source of revenue for the company.

Technology is a substantial part of Jumkey’s success. Kavya explains that “the browsing is built around a patent pending algorithm based on user patterns that no one else has attempted to build before. It’s like the Facebook feed which shows new posts based on your taste and interest.”

Jumkey is still at a very early stage, and not being profitable yet, it is fully self-funded. However, it has 6 selected Jewellery Sellers and is in touch with many others who will soon join them.

“Currently the focus is on building the Jumkey brand,” says Kavya who goes on to explain that this is going to be a very ambitious process. “We have started Jumkey TV, a website and a YouTube channel where we post the most updated and diverse videos about fashion and style.” The team is on every major social network and is planning to launch its own, which will be called JumkeyGirl. “On JumkeyGirl, every user will be able to create their profile and share comments about fashion and style, as well as post pictures and ideas,” Kavya says.

Kavya underlines numerous times that her objective is to create a JumkeyGirl community where the market place she has started will be the provider of the most requested and fashionable jewels. For this reason, she says that she will gradually expand the availability of items on the website; in particular, she will introduce precious items which are for the moment out of her focus.

The app, technology, and the project of creating a community of fashion-lovers around their products, differentiate Jumkey from competitors like Caratlane, Bluestone, and Voylla which either have a marketplace only on the web, or do not have it at all. “I am confident about what we have built because we focused a lot on validating each of our ideas immediately,” Kavya says. With these elements, Kavya believes that Jumkey has now solidity enough to raise funds.

“I am now sure that if you strongly believe that something good is going to happen, that will happen. This implies experimenting a lot and surrounding yourself with a passionate team. I have also learnt that it is fundamental to assign the right person to the right task and never compromise on that,” States Kavya, listing her learnings from her journey.

Finally, strong with the support from her team, the Jumkey girl concludes by saying “Be a Ninja. Make it happen. Always be a doer and not a cribber.”