Shraddha Kapoor Co-Founded Palmonas: ₹126 Cr Brand in 20 Months

Most celebrity jewellery brands follow a predictable formula. License your name, show up for photos, collect royalties. But when Shraddha Kapoor discovered Palmonas scrolling Instagram in late 2023, she saw something different. She didn’t just like the jewellery. She became obsessed with it, ordering piece after piece under “S. Kapoor” without revealing her identity.

In March 2024, she didn’t just endorse Palmonas. She became co-founder, investing real capital and taking equity alongside original founders Pallavi Mohadikar and Dr. Amol Patwari. Twenty months later, the numbers tell the story. The Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas partnership raised ₹62 crore total funding including a ₹55 crore Series A from Vertex Ventures in August 2025, achieved ₹126 crore valuation on Shark Tank India, serves 4+ lakh customers, operates 5 physical stores, and projects ₹35 crore FY25 revenue.

This isn’t another celebrity licensing deal. This is strategic business building that pioneered India’s demi-fine jewellery category. Palmonas positioned between disposable fashion jewellery at ₹200-800 that tarnishes within weeks and investment-grade fine jewellery at ₹10,000-5,00,000 locked in bank lockers.

The Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas Results:

• Total funding raised: ₹62 crore (including ₹55 crore Series A from Vertex Ventures, August 2025)
• Shark Tank valuation: ₹126 crore (February 2025)
• Customer base: 4+ lakh satisfied customers
• Physical presence: 5 stores across Delhi and Pune
• FY25 revenue: ₹35 crore projected (up from ₹15-20 crore FY24)

At ₹800-₹5,500, Palmonas offers surgical-grade stainless steel plated with 18K gold, lasting 1-3 years with proper care, all backed by one-year warranties. The product quality justifies the premium over fashion jewellery while remaining accessible compared to traditional fine jewellery requiring lakhs in investment.

The Accidental Entrepreneur: Shraddha’s Journey to Co-Founder

Shraddha Kapoor built her Bollywood career on relatability, not unattainable glamour. Films like Aashiqui 2, Stree, and Chhichhore showcased her as accessible and aspirational without being alienating. By 2023, she had amassed 82 million Instagram followers, making her one of India’s most-followed actresses. But unlike celebrities treating social media as pure self-promotion, Shraddha genuinely engaged with fans, answering questions about outfits, skincare, and daily life. This authentic interaction would later become crucial to the Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas marketing success.

Her business background included traditional endorsements with Lakmé, Mamaearth, and Veet, but these were paid partnerships with zero equity. She collected appearance fees and moved on when contracts ended. The model worked financially but offered no long-term wealth creation beyond annual endorsement income.

What changed in late 2023 was personal frustration. Shraddha constantly bought jewellery that looked stunning in photos but tarnished after a few wears. Fashion jewellery from local boutiques and Accessorize broke within weeks. Fine jewellery from Tanishq or PC Jeweller required ₹50,000-2,00,000 investments for pieces she’d wear maybe twice a year to award shows or weddings. She wanted everyday jewellery that looked polished, lasted months not weeks, and cost ₹2,000-3,000 not ₹50,000.

The Jewellery Problem She Faced:

• Fashion jewellery: Accessorize pieces broke within weeks despite ₹500-800 cost
• Fine jewellery: Tanishq/PC Jeweller required ₹50,000-2,00,000 for pieces worn twice yearly
• Missing middle: Nothing existed for quality everyday jewellery at ₹2,000-3,000
• Daily wear needs: Office meetings, casual dinners, airport travel, Instagram posts

When she discovered Palmonas scrolling through tagged jewellery posts on Instagram, she found exactly what she’d been searching for. She placed her first order under “S. Kapoor” without revealing her identity. The pieces arrived, exceeded expectations, and she ordered again. And again. The Palmonas team noticed repeat high-value orders from this mysterious customer but had no idea Bollywood’s sweetheart was becoming their best customer.

The breakthrough came when Shraddha posted an Instagram story wearing Palmonas earrings. A fan commented asking where she bought them, and Shraddha replied with an Instagram story tagging Palmonas and explaining she’d been buying from them for months. That single story, reaching millions of her 82 million followers, crashed the Palmonas website within hours as orders flooded in.

The Palmonas Origin: Building India’s First Demi-Fine Brand

Identifying The Market Gap

Pallavi Mohadikar didn’t fit the typical jewellery entrepreneur profile. With an engineering degree from COEP Technological University, MBA from IIM Lucknow, and years as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, Pallavi understood financial markets and consumer behavior better than most jewellery designers. Her co-founder Dr. Amol Patwari brought a completely different perspective as an orthopaedic surgeon turned entrepreneur, with deep knowledge of biocompatible materials used in medical implants.

Together in 2022, they identified a massive gap in India’s jewellery market. Fine jewellery dominated the traditional segment with brands like Tanishq at ₹10,000-5,00,000 price points, targeting brides, investors, and families treating jewellery as wealth storage. Fashion jewellery from Accessorize and local shops offered ₹200-800 options that tarnished within weeks, targeting budget-conscious trend-followers willing to replace pieces constantly. The missing middle, demi-fine jewellery at ₹800-₹5,500, didn’t exist in India despite massive success internationally. Mejuri in Canada and Aurate in the USA proved millennials and Gen Z wanted quality jewellery for daily wear priced between throwaway fashion and investment fine jewellery.

The Demi-Fine Category Positioning:

• Materials: Surgical-grade stainless steel with 18K gold plating, sterling silver with gold vermeil
• Durability: 1-3 year lifespan with proper care versus fashion jewellery’s 2-4 weeks
• Price range: ₹800-₹5,500 versus fashion at ₹200-800 and fine at ₹10,000+
• Target customer: Working professionals, millennials, Gen Z wanting daily-wear quality
• Warranty: One-year coverage on every piece

They named the brand Palmonas, combining their names Pallavi and Amol with their daughter Anaya’s name, signalling family-built authenticity from day one. The founding investment came from personal savings and angel investors, approximately ₹6 crore raised in 2022-2023.

Early Challenges and Organic Growth

Launching Palmonas in 2022 meant educating Indian consumers about a category that didn’t exist in their consciousness. When Pallavi and Amol explained demi-fine jewellery, customers asked if this was real gold or fake. The concept of quality materials at mid-tier pricing confused shoppers trained to think in binary terms: either cheap fashion jewellery or expensive fine jewellery with nothing legitimate in between.

Supply chain proved equally challenging. Indian jewellery manufacturers specialized in either high-volume cheap fashion jewellery or traditional fine jewellery in gold and diamonds. Finding partners capable of working with surgical-grade stainless steel, applying consistent 2.5-micron gold vermeil plating, and maintaining quality control at Palmonas’ required standards took months of trial and error. Early batches had inconsistent plating thickness, clasps that broke under normal wear, and finishes that didn’t match samples.

Despite these obstacles, Palmonas found traction in 2023 through Instagram marketing, influencer collaborations, and strategic celebrity stylist partnerships. The brand worked with stylists dressing Deepika Padukone, Suhana Khan, Avneet Kaur, and Ayushmann Khurrana, ensuring Palmonas pieces appeared in celebrity photos even when not officially tagged. These organic celebrity sightings generated awareness without massive advertising spend.

When Customer Became Co-Founder

Why Shraddha Chose Equity Over Endorsement Fees

In March 2024, Shraddha Kapoor made a decision that surprised many in Bollywood. Instead of accepting the standard ₹2-3 crore annual endorsement deal Palmonas could have offered, she chose to become co-founder with equity stake estimated at 15-30%, investing her own capital alongside existing investors. This decision defied conventional celebrity business wisdom. Endorsement deals provide guaranteed annual income with zero risk. Whether the brand succeeds or fails, celebrities get paid. Equity deals risk losing the entire investment if the business fails but offer exponential upside if it succeeds.

But Shraddha saw what others missed. Palmonas wasn’t asking her to create a celebrity perfume or fashion line from scratch. The business already had product-market fit proven by her own repeat purchases and organic customer traction. The demi-fine jewellery category worked internationally with Mejuri and Aurate achieving massive valuations. India’s market was 10x larger than Canada and growing faster.

The Financial Logic:

• March 2024 entry: 15-30% equity stake at ₹40-60 crore valuation worth ₹6-18 crore
• February 2025 Shark Tank: Valuation hit ₹126 crore, stake grew to ₹19-38 crore
• Post-Series A August 2025: Likely ₹200-250 crore valuation, stake worth ₹30-75 crore
• Future potential: At ₹100 crore revenue with 5-8x multiples, valuation could reach ₹500-800 crore
• Return comparison: 10-40x return over 3-5 years versus ₹10-15 crore from traditional endorsements

The equity structure gave Shraddha real ownership. At an estimated 15-30% stake, she owned a meaningful piece of the business, not a token fraction. This ownership level came with board representation, strategic decision-making authority, and genuine co-founder status. She wasn’t a hired spokesperson. She was a business partner with aligned incentives to grow company value.

The Business Model: How Palmonas Makes Money

Palmonas operates a multi-channel revenue model designed to maximize customer acquisition while maintaining healthy margins. The primary channel is direct-to-consumer e-commerce through Palmonas.com, capturing approximately 70-75% of total revenue. This D2C model eliminates retailer markups of 40-50%, allowing Palmonas to price ₹800-₹5,500 while maintaining 60-70% gross margins.

Physical retail represents the fastest-growing channel, expanding from zero stores in March 2024 when Shraddha joined to 5 locations by December 2025. The Delhi Chandni Chowk flagship opened in mid-2025, strategically located in India’s busiest jewellery market to establish credibility alongside traditional jewellers. Marketplace presence on Amazon India captures customers preferring established platforms, though 15-20% commissions reduce margins. International shipping to 200+ countries taps into the global South Asian diaspora.

Unit Economics That Drive Investor Enthusiasm:

• Average order value: ₹2,000-3,000 per transaction (1-2 pieces)
• Customer acquisition cost: ₹300-600 (versus typical ₹800-1,500 for D2C jewellery)
• Gross margins: 60-70% (₹600-800 COGS on ₹2,000 necklace leaves ₹1,200-1,400 profit)
• Repeat purchase rate: 35-40% within 6 months, 20-25% become 3+ annual buyers
• Customer lifetime value: ₹5,000-8,000 over 2-3 years
• LTV:CAC ratio: 8-15x (most D2C brands struggle to achieve 3-4x)

The CAC advantage comes entirely from Shraddha’s 82 million Instagram followers providing organic reach worth ₹10-20 crore annually in advertising equivalent. Projected FY25 revenue of ₹35 crore, up from estimated ₹15-20 crore in FY24, represents 75-130% year-over-year growth. At ₹126 crore Shark Tank valuation and ₹35 crore projected FY25 revenue, Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas trades at 3.6x revenue multiple, reasonable for a high-growth consumer brand with celebrity co-founder and proven unit economics.

The Shraddha Effect: Why Celebrity Equity Changes Everything

Traditional celebrity endorsements are transactional. Brand pays ₹2-5 crore annually for 2-3 years. Celebrity appears in advertisements, attends launch events, posts occasional content. When contracts end, celebrities walk away, often signing competitors immediately. Shraddha’s co-founder role flips this entirely. Her 15-30% equity stake means financial success ties directly to company valuation. If Palmonas grows from ₹126 crore to ₹500 crore valuation, Shraddha’s stake grows from ₹19-38 crore to ₹75-150 crore.

Tangible Business Impacts:

• Customer trust: Authentic testimonials drive 25-30% higher conversion rates on Shraddha-worn pieces
• Media coverage: Every funding announcement generates national headlines worth ₹5-10 crore annually
• Investor confidence: VCs view equity stake as de-risking since Shraddha can’t walk away
• Retail partnerships: Malls offer better lease terms knowing Shraddha-backed brands drive 40-50% higher traffic
• Product relevance: Shraddha’s style input ensures designs resonate, reducing unsold inventory 30-40%

A single Instagram post featuring Palmonas reaches 20-50 million people organically, generating 500,000-2,000,000 likes and 5,000-15,000 comments. Traffic impact is measurable within hours. When Shraddha posts Palmonas content, website traffic surges by 10,000-50,000 visits within 24 hours, converting at 2-4% to generate 200-2,000 orders and ₹5-50 lakh in direct sales per post.

Product Strategy: Defining The Demi-Fine Category

Palmonas product strategy hinges on materials science enabling affordable luxury. Fashion jewellery at ₹200-800 fails quickly because of base metal oxidation and thin plating. Manufacturers use brass or copper alloys costing ₹50-100 per piece. These metals oxidize when exposed to air, water, or skin oils, turning green within weeks. The gold plating is typically 0.1-0.5 microns thick, flaking off with minor wear.

Fine jewellery at ₹10,000-5,00,000 uses solid 22K gold, platinum, or sterling silver, eliminating oxidation problems. But material costs drive prices to levels most people can’t justify for everyday jewellery. A simple 22K gold chain weighing 10 grams costs ₹60,000-70,000 in materials alone.

The Palmonas Material Innovation:

• Base material: Medical-grade 316L stainless steel (₹200-300 per piece) that’s hypoallergenic
• Plating: 2.5-micron 18K gold vermeil (5-25x thicker than fashion jewellery’s 0.1-0.5 micron)
• Process: PVD plating creates molecular-level adhesion between steel and gold
• Durability: Withstands normal wear for 1-3 years versus fashion jewellery’s 2-4 weeks
• Quality control: X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy verifies plating thickness on every batch

Shraddha’s aesthetic transformed product design from founder-driven to market-led. Post-March 2024, designs shifted toward younger, more versatile pieces for the 22-35 demographic. Design principles include everyday wearability for office meetings and casual dinners, layering-friendly delicate necklaces and stackable rings, and Indian-global fusion that works for both traditional and Western wear. The product range spans 500+ SKUs across necklaces at ₹1,200-3,500, earrings at ₹800-2,500, rings at ₹900-2,800, bracelets at ₹1,000-3,000, and mangalsutras at ₹2,500-5,500.

Funding Journey: From Angels To ₹55 Crore Series A

Palmonas raised approximately ₹6 crore in angel funding during 2022-2023. When Shraddha joined as co-founder in March 2024, she personally invested ₹1-2 crore. Her investment signaled confidence to other investors. If Bollywood’s sweetheart was betting her reputation and money on Palmonas, the opportunity must be real.

The February 2025 Shark Tank India Season 4 appearance crystallized value for national audiences. Shraddha appeared alongside Pallavi and Amol, pitching for ₹1.26 crore at ₹126 crore valuation. Namita Thapar recognized the affordable luxury opportunity. Ritesh Agarwal brought Oyo operational scaling expertise. The Sharks invested ₹1.26 crore, validating ₹126 crore valuation on national television. Website traffic increased 300-500% during and after the episode. Orders flooded in from customers who’d never heard of Palmonas but trusted Shark validation combined with Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas’ co-founder status.

Series A Breakthrough:

• Amount raised: ₹55 crore from Vertex Ventures (August 2025, just 6 months post-Shark Tank)
• Total funding: ₹62 crore (angel + Shark Tank + Series A)
• Post-money valuation: Likely ₹200-250 crore (60-100% increase from February)
• Investor thesis: Category leadership, proven unit economics, international potential

The ₹55 crore allocation targets physical retail expansion at ₹15-20 crore for 20-30 stores, international expansion at ₹10-15 crore for USA, UK, UAE operations, technology and AI at ₹5-7 crore for personalization and virtual try-on, new product lines at ₹8-12 crore for lab-grown diamonds and real gold, team expansion at ₹5-8 crore hiring 100+ employees, and marketing at ₹8-10 crore for influencer partnerships and international PR.

Competitive Landscape: The Battle For Category Leadership

The demi-fine jewellery category in India remains nascent but competitive intensity is growing rapidly. Giva, Bangalore-based brand founded in 2019, represents the primary competitor. Giva focuses on sterling silver at ₹500-₹3,000, raised ₹105 crore Series B in 2023, and achieved approximately ₹150 crore FY24 revenue with 25 stores. However, Giva lacks celebrity co-founder equity backing, limiting brand awareness and organic reach.

Melorra competes at higher price points of ₹5,000-₹50,000, overlapping with Palmonas’ premium categories. BlueStone with 150+ stores operates primarily in fine jewellery at ₹10,000-5,00,000, making demi-fine credibility difficult.

Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas Competitive Advantages:

• Celebrity reach: 82 million followers provide ₹10-20 crore annual organic distribution
• Origin story: Customer-to-founder journey provides unmatched credibility
• Price positioning: ₹800-₹5,500 sweet spot maximizes addressable market
• Quality assurance: One-year warranty builds trust versus competitors without guarantees
• Category leadership: First at scale with celebrity backing and venture funding

India’s fashion and costume jewellery market exceeds ₹30,000 crore annually, growing 15-20% year-over-year. Demi-fine currently represents less than 5% but projections suggest 15-20% by 2030, creating a ₹5,000-7,000 crore segment. Palmonas aims to capture 10-15%, representing ₹500-1,000 crore annual revenue potential by 2030.

Future Vision: Building A ₹500 Crore Lifestyle Brand

Palmonas’ long-term vision extends beyond demi-fine jewellery into affordable luxury lifestyle categories. Lab-grown diamond collections launching in 2026 will target customers graduating from demi-fine to fine jewellery but wanting affordable diamonds at ₹10,000-50,000. Real gold lightweight jewellery using hollow construction will keep gold weight below 2-3 grams, enabling ₹20,000-25,000 pricing versus traditional ₹50,000+ gold jewellery.

Product Line Extensions Launching 2026-2028:

• Lab-grown diamonds: ₹10,000-50,000 range, 60-80% cheaper than mined diamonds
• Real gold lightweight: ₹20,000-25,000 using hollow construction techniques
• Watches: Swiss-movement in surgical steel at ₹8,000-25,000, opening male market
• Handbags: Genuine leather at ₹5,000-15,000 applying same quality positioning
• Lifestyle home: Premium candles and fragrances at ₹1,500-3,000

International expansion targets markets with large South Asian diaspora. USA represents largest opportunity with 4+ million diaspora. Plans include pop-up stores in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Chicago during 2026, partnerships with Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s, and pricing adjusted to $30-$100. UK targets London with significant South Asian population. UAE focuses on Dubai and Abu Dhabi premium malls with affluent customers. Canada and Southeast Asia including Singapore and Malaysia offer strong diaspora markets.

The Bottom Line

Shraddha Kapoor’s journey with Palmonas from frustrated customer placing ₹800 orders to co-founder of India’s first demi-fine jewellery brand valued at ₹126 crore demonstrates that celebrity ventures succeed when built on authentic product love, strategic positioning, and genuine operational involvement. By joining as co-founder in March 2024 with 15-30% equity stake, Shraddha helped Palmonas raise ₹62 crore total funding, serve 4+ lakh customers, open 5 stores, and project ₹35 crore FY25 revenue.

Why Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas Succeeded:

• Authentic origin: Shraddha was frustrated customer first, solving her own jewellery problem
• Category creation: Pioneered demi-fine at ₹800-₹5,500 filling gap between fashion and fine
• Equity alignment: 15-30% stake ensures success tied to company valuation, not endorsement fees
• Distribution advantage: 82 million Instagram followers provide ₹10-20 crore annual free marketing
• Product quality: Surgical-grade materials with 2.5-micron plating justify premium over fashion
• Unit economics: 8-15x LTV:CAC ratio demonstrates sustainable growth model

More importantly, Shraddha Kapoor Palmonas pioneered a category that didn’t exist in India. Demi-fine jewellery fills the massive gap between disposable fashion that tarnishes within weeks and investment fine jewellery locked in bank lockers. By using surgical-grade stainless steel with 2.5-micron gold vermeil and backing every piece with one-year warranties, Palmonas created new value proposition: quality lasting 1-3 years at prices young professionals can afford.

For Shraddha personally, this represents authentic entrepreneurship beyond acting. Her estimated 15-30% stake currently worth ₹19-75 crore could grow to ₹75-240 crore at ₹500-800 crore valuations achievable if Palmonas hits ₹100 crore revenue with 5-8x revenue multiples comparable consumer brands command. The equity upside dramatically exceeds ₹10-15 crore from traditional three-year endorsements. She’s building lasting wealth through ownership rather than trading time for money.

With aggressive plans to expand to 20-30 stores, enter USA, UK, UAE markets, launch lab-grown diamonds and real gold collections, and extend into watches and lifestyle products, Palmonas is positioned to become India’s definitive affordable luxury brand. The journey from Instagram discovery in late 2023 to ₹126 crore valuation in 18 months shows what happens when genuine product love meets smart strategy, celebrity star power, and 82 million followers as free marketing distribution.

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