BuymyJewel: How Rajat Gaur and Bhupendra Kapure are Digitizing India's Opaque B2B Jewellery Market
The Indian jewellery market is one of the world's oldest and most fragmented industries, where business is still done on handshakes, legacy relationships, and physical catalogues. Rajat Gaur and Bhupendra Kapure, Co-founders of BuymyJewel, set out to change that. By building a tech-enabled B2B marketplace that connects small-town retailers with global-grade manufacturers, they brought transparency to a previously opaque supply chain. Their journey of scaling 4X annually with minimal capital eventually led to a successful acquisition by Goldsetu, proving that even the most traditional industries are ripe for a digital revolution.
The story of BuymyJewel began at Symbiosis, Pune, where Rajat and Bhupendra were B-school classmates. While Rajat brought an engineering background and a desire to return to his hometown to build something impactful, Bhupendra contributed a deep understanding of operations. In 2018, they identified a massive efficiency gap: small retailers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities had limited access to new designs and were often at the mercy of middlemen. They launched BuymyJewel to democratize access to high-quality inventory, and by 2022, their success made them a key acquisition target for Goldsetu.
The Traditional Mindset Challenge
In the jewellery business, "Trust" is the only currency. Bhupendra notes that their biggest hurdle wasn't technology, but Mindset. "Traditional jewellers are used to seeing physical products and dealing with people they've known for decades. Convincing them to trust an online platform for high-value B2B transactions required us to prioritize service delivery and verifiable quality above all else."
The Problem: The Fragmented Supply Chain
For a local jeweller in a non-metro city, staying competitive is difficult. They struggle with three main issues: Limited Inventory (they only see what their local distributor carries), Lack of Price Transparency, and Inefficient Logistics. Because the industry is so unorganized, manufacturers also struggle to reach these thousands of small-scale retailers directly. This fragmentation leads to higher costs for the end consumer and limited growth for the small business owner.
"We saw that the retailer was losing out," Rajat explains. "They weren't getting the best designs or the best prices. By compartmentalizing our operations and focusing on quality-first sourcing, we gave them a platform that acted as their own procurement office."
The Solution: The BuymyJewel B2B Ecosystem
BuymyJewel acted as a full-stack marketplace, managing everything from design discovery to delivery and insurance. By digitizing the catalogue and ensuring secure logistics, they allowed retailers to refresh their stock without the travel and risk associated with traditional sourcing.
The B2B Procurement Lifecycle
- Curated Discovery: Providing retailers with access to 10,000+ real jewellery designs from top manufacturers.
- Transparent Pricing: Using a competitive bidding and pricing model to ensure the retailer gets the best margins.
- Quality Assurance: Acting as the "Trust Layer" by verifying the purity and craftsmanship of every piece before dispatch.
- Secure Logistics: Managing high-value transit with specialized insurance and tracking.
- Inventory Management: Helping retailers streamline their inventory flow, reducing dead stock and improving cash cycles.
Scaling with Minimal Capital: The Path to Acquisition
Unlike many tech startups that burn through venture capital, BuymyJewel focused on sustainability. They spent their first two years in an "experimentation phase," figuring out the unit economics of high-value B2B e-commerce. By keeping their overhead low and focusing on revenue-generating verticals, they achieved consistent 4X annual growth. This capital-efficient model made them an attractive partner for Goldsetu, which acquired them in late 2022 to strengthen its own B2B jewellery SaaS and marketplace offerings.
"We wanted to be profitable as soon as possible," Rajat reflects. "In an industry where margins are tight and trust is everything, being a 'frugal' startup allowed us to weather the uncertainties of the market and focus on what the customer actually wanted: better inventory and better service."
BuymyJewel Impact & Scale
- Acquired by Goldsetu: Successfully exited in 2022 to a leading jewellery-tech player.
- 4X Annual Growth: Scaled rapidly by focusing on Tier 2 and Tier 3 retail partners.
- 10,000+ Connections: Built a massive network of B2B manufacturers and retailers.
- High-Value Excellence: Successfully managed the digitization of high-ticket real jewellery transactions.
Lessons in Leadership: Execution is Supreme
Both founders emphasize that "Performance is the Supreme Criteria." In a service-heavy business like jewellery logistics, hiring for specific competencies is more important than hiring for pedigree. They advocate for a culture of accountability where every vertical lead (Sales, Ops, Marketing) has total responsibility for their outcomes. For Rajat and Bhupendra, the role of the co-founder is to set the strategy and then get out of the way of the experts.
"Don't just focus on the 'shiny' side of entrepreneurship," Rajat advises. "Focus on the planning and the execution. You need to know 'Why' you are building the company. If your 'Why' is strong, the 'How' will eventually follow through hard work and iteration."
Founder's Lesson: Systemize Yourself
Bhupendra believes a business is only successful if it can run without the founders. "Spend time building systems and processes. If you are solving every small problem yourself, you won't have time to see the future of your company. Hire people who are better than you at the details."
The Future: A Tech-Enabled Gold Economy
Following the acquisition, the founders' vision lives on within the Goldsetu ecosystem. They see a future where the distinction between "online" and "offline" jewellery stores disappears. Retailers will use AI to predict design trends, blockchain to verify purity, and digital marketplaces to manage their entire global supply chain. For Rajat and Bhupendra, the goal was always about empowering the small-town jeweller—giving them the tools to compete with the world's biggest brands.
BuymyJewel proved that India's traditional sectors don't need a total overhaul; they need a digital bridge. By respecting the existing mindset while offering 21st-century efficiency, Rajat Gaur and Bhupendra Kapure have ensured that for the future of the Indian jewellery market, the win is finally digital.
About the Guests
Rajat Gaur and Bhupendra Kapure are the Co-founders of BuymyJewel. Rajat, an engineer by training, and Bhupendra, an operations specialist, met while pursuing their MBA at Symbiosis, Pune. Together, they built BuymyJewel into one of India's leading B2B e-commerce platforms for the jewellery industry. Recognized for their capital-efficient growth and deep understanding of the Tier 2/3 retail landscape, they successfully navigated the company to an acquisition by Goldsetu in 2022. They are recognized mentors in the e-commerce ecosystem and vocal advocates for the digitization of traditional Indian industries.
BuymyJewel (now part of Goldsetu) is a B2B online jewellery marketplace that streamlines procurement for retailers. By providing a secure, transparent, and vast digital inventory of real jewellery, the platform helps small-scale retailers access better designs and prices while managing the entire lifecycle of sourcing and logistics.