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Clean Origin Receives $20 Million Equity Investment from Titan

23 Mar 2022 , 09:20 AM

Business Wire India

Great Heights Inc., and its subsidiary Clean Origin LLC, leading online DTC retailers of lab-grown diamonds, engagement rings and jewelry, today announce a $20 million equity investment from TCL North America, Inc. (TCL Inc), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titan Company Limited (NSE:TITAN) – an Indian luxury products company known for manufacturing jewelry and watches – to further expand the business. Clean Origin plans to use the funds to scale its operations, strengthen its supply chain, invest in omnichannel retail experiences, leverage cross border Indian-American synergies, and build a fortress balance sheet to further dominate the lab-grown diamond engagement ring industry.

This transaction values Great Heights Inc. at approximately $132.8 million USD on a pre-money valuation basis and $152.8 million USD on a post-money valuation basis and creates no change of control nor direction for the company who maintains majority control.

As part of the deal:

Ajoy Chawla, CEO Jewellery Division of Titan Company Limited will join Great Heights Inc. board of directors
Titan will own approximately 13.09% of the economic interest and 17.54% of the voting control in Great Heights Inc.

“We are delighted to choose Titan as a partner and look forward to welcoming Mr. Chawla to our board of directors,” said Alexander Weindling, Co-Founder and CEO of Clean Origin and Great Heights Inc. “Titan brings more than simply cash to fuel our growth, but deep expertise in the international manufacturing, control, and logistics of bespoke diamond jewelry across a global platform.”

Clean Origin is on a mission to hold the diamond industry to a higher standard, with a new, environmentally conscious, and conflict-free process that gives everyone peace of mind when purchasing diamonds. Each diamond is lab-grown using a craft that mirrors the natural growing process creating molecularly identical stones without the destructive force of mining or its murky ethics. All diamonds are 100 percent real, 100 percent ethical and independently certified to meet the highest standard of quality.

About Clean Origin

Clean Origin, a wholly owned subsidiary brand of Great Heights Inc., is the largest retailer of purely lab-grown diamond jewelry in the U.S. Founded in 2017 by Alexander Weindling, Ryan Bonifacino and a team of industry veterans with over 100 years of combined experience, the team set out to disrupt the way diamonds were developed, sourced and sold. Seed investors included Terry Burman, Chairman of Abercrombie & Fitch, former Chairman of Zale’s and CEO of Signet brands Kay Jewelers and Jared. Clean Origin knows the diamond jewelry industry to its core and is on a mission to improve the diamond shopping experience. The company puts quality and ethics first, so consumers can feel good about diamonds now and forever. For more information, please visit, www.cleanorigin.com

About Titan Company Limited

Titan, a joint venture of the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), commenced operations in 1984. Since then, Titan has expanded from watches to creating India’s largest jewelry lifestyle brand, Tanishq and India’s largest digital omnichannel jeweler, Caratlane.com. Titan is widely known for transforming the jewelry industry in India and for shaping India’s retail market by pioneering experiential retail. Titan’s global jewelry operations generated 2021 sales of US $2.7 billion through its 2,000 stores in India and abroad.

Founded in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata, Tata is one of the world’s premier global enterprises. In its most recent fiscal year, Tata generated US $103 Billion in revenue with a market capitalization exceeding US $300 billion – including 28 publicly listed companies as of September 30, 2021 – across ten industry verticals including consumer, technology, and retail.