Brilliant Earth joins IPO party

Dive Brief:

Brilliant Earth Group, a DTC retailer specializing in ethically sourced jewelry, will go public, according to a Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The proposed offering will be made only by means of a prospectus, with the number of shares and their price range yet to be determined, the company said in a press release Tuesday. The retailer has applied to the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "BRLT," per the release.
Founded by Beth Gerstein and Eric Grossberg in 2005 and still led by them, Brilliant Earth is based in San Francisco and Denver. The company has served over 370,000 customers in the U.S. and more than 50 countries, per the release.

Dive Insight:

Several questions remain about what truly constitutes ethically obtained diamonds, with some critics claiming that there isn't yet any such thing.

Still, the demand for more sustainable and humane practices in diamond sourcing has pushed even stalwarts like Tiffany to respond and allowed upstarts like Brilliant Earth to gain an edge. A major portion of its customer base, bridal customers, are millennials and even Gen Z, who are particularly concerned with these issues, the company noted in its filing Monday.

Moreover, consumers are increasingly comfortable shopping online even for gems, the company said, citing Euromonitor research finding that 31% of fine jewelry sales were online in 2020, up from 22% in 2019. "As preferences continue to shift online, we believe consumers seek authentic brands with a strong digital presence and an engaged community," the company said.

Brilliant Earth sells largely online but also runs 14 showrooms in major U.S. cities, according to its website. Last year, the company's net sales reached $251.8 million and it swung into the black, with $21.6 million in net income from a $7.8 million loss in 2019, per the SEC filing. In the first half of this year, net sales rose 77.7% year over year to $163 million, with net income at $10.9 million, up from $0.2 million in the same period last year.

The company joins a spate of DTC retailers moving to trade shares on public markets, including Allbirds, Rent the Runway and Roger Federer-backed running brand On.