New Delhi, June 18 -- In 2023, following requests from consumers across its silver jewellery stores, start-up Giva began retailing lab-grown diamonds (LGD) in select outlets to assess consumer demand. It didn't involve too much of an investment-while LGDs are identical to mined diamonds in many ways, including chemical composition, they are a whole lot cheaper.

"Consumers were demanding lab-grown diamonds. Also, with gold prices rising, new-age consumers are seeking alternatives such as accessible diamonds. When we conducted a pilot in 10 of our stores, we witnessed significant demand, which led us to expand to multiple stores," said Ishendra Agarwal, founder and CEO of Giva, which is backed by Premji Invest and A91 Partners.

The chain,...