Art of Time, India’s top luxury watch retailer with both online and offline stores, has raised INR 175 crore in a new funding round.
The investment comes from CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti, Jaipur Gems CEO Siddhartha Sacheti, Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham, and Plutus Wealth Management.
The funding round includes 70% new investment in the company and 30% from the sale of existing shares, bringing Art of Time’s total funding since it started to INR 200 crore.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its retail presence, launch new product categories, hire talent, and invest in technology and inventory.
“Every other brand is looking at India very strongly. They see the potential here and believe they can be the next big thing in the luxury space,” said Cofounder Gaurav Bhatia.
“Even among women, there has been a significant shift from jewellery to watches. This has actually increased our share of purchases among women, balancing the ratio of men’s and women’s purchases over the years,” he added.
Art of Time, based in Mumbai, was founded in 2015 by Gaurav Bhatia and Bharat Kapoor. The company works with 20 top luxury watch brands, including Cartier, Montblanc, Piaget, and Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Art of Time has 14 stores in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. This year, it plans to open three more: its first store in Hyderabad, a multi-brand store called ‘Circa’ in Noida, and a single-brand store in Ahmedabad.
With Circa, Art of Time is entering the “bridge-to-luxury” market, aiming at customers with monthly incomes between Rs 50,000 and Rs 4 lakh, instead of just focusing on very high-income buyers.
Read more- Eternal Grants INR 211 Crore in ESOPs to Employees
