First Edition

JewelStart Industry Innovation Challenge

A national innovation challenge by GJEPC in collaboration with SINE IIT Bombay to identify high-potential startups transforming the Gems & Jewellery industry.

About

GJEPC

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is India's apex body for the Gems & Jewellery sector, set up by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. With a membership base of over 9,000 exporters, GJEPC plays a pivotal role in driving India's gems and jewellery exports, which account for a significant share of the country's total merchandise exports.

GJEPC provides a comprehensive ecosystem of support — from trade facilitation, policy advocacy, and market development to skill building, design promotion, and industry research. As the voice of the industry, GJEPC engages with global markets, international trade bodies, and government institutions to strengthen India's position as the world's leading gems and jewellery hub.

GJEPC
JewelStart
About

JewelStart

JewelStart is GJEPC's dedicated startup and innovation initiative, built to create a robust pipeline of innovation-driven startups for the Gems & Jewellery industry. Recognising that the sector's future growth depends on technology adoption, process innovation, and entrepreneurial energy, JewelStart bridges the gap between industry challenges and startup solutions.

Through structured programmes, industry access, mentorship, and ecosystem support, JewelStart enables startups to validate, scale, and integrate their solutions within one of India's most significant export sectors.

Context

Why This Innovation Challenge?

The Gems & Jewellery industry stands at a critical inflection point. Rapid shifts in consumer behaviour, global supply chain pressures, sustainability mandates, and the rise of digital commerce are reshaping the sector. Yet, the adoption of technology and innovation-led solutions remains nascent.

Technology Adoption

Accelerating the integration of AI, automation, and digital tools across manufacturing and retail.

Sustainability

Driving responsible sourcing, ethical practices, and green manufacturing across the value chain.

Traceability

Building transparent, verifiable provenance systems for gems and jewellery products.

Digital Commerce

Enabling omnichannel retail, D2C models, and digital-first customer experiences.

Manufacturing Efficiency

Improving precision, yield, and productivity through smart manufacturing solutions.

Innovation-Led Growth

Creating a culture of innovation that positions India as a global leader in jewellery tech.

Challenge Areas

Problem Statements

Selected industry problem statements addressing critical gaps across the Gems & Jewellery value chain. Startups are invited to apply with solutions relevant to one or more of these areas.

01

Smart Factory Monitoring – Jewellery Manufacturing

Overview

Jewellery factories often lack real-time visibility into machines and production processes, leading to downtime, inefficiencies, and underutilized capacity.

Problem Statement

Build a smart factory solution that enables real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and data-driven optimization of jewellery manufacturing operations.

Key Opportunity

Hidden operational inefficiencies can lead to significant production losses. Intelligent monitoring systems can improve machine utilization, reduce downtime, and enhance overall productivity without major capex investments.

Solution Scope

  • Machine monitoring and downtime tracking
  • Predictive maintenance systems
  • Production analytics and bottleneck identification
  • AI-driven operational insights
  • Simulation-based production optimization
  • Centralized monitoring dashboards

Expected Output

A plug-and-play smart factory platform delivering real-time visibility, predictive intelligence, and operational optimization.

02

Precious Metal Inventory & Capital Optimization

Overview

Jewellery manufacturers often rely on fragmented systems and manual processes to manage precious metal inventory, resulting in limited visibility, excess stock holding, and material losses.

Problem Statement

Develop an AI-driven inventory intelligence system that enables real-time visibility and optimization of precious metal inventory across raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods.

Key Opportunity

Improved inventory visibility can reduce working capital lock-up, minimize unexplained losses, optimize procurement planning, and strengthen material traceability.

Solution Scope

  • Real-time inventory visibility and traceability
  • Automated weight capture and reconciliation
  • AI-based procurement forecasting
  • Live inventory valuation linked to market prices
  • Wastage and anomaly detection systems
  • Centralized inventory monitoring dashboards

Expected Output

An intelligent digital inventory system enabling real-time material tracking, financial visibility, and process transparency.

03

Smart Automation – Jewellery Manufacturing

Overview

Jewellery manufacturing continues to rely heavily on manual labour for repetitive precision tasks such as stone setting, polishing, and finishing, creating productivity and scalability challenges.

Problem Statement

Build a smart automation solution to streamline repetitive precision tasks, reduce labour dependency, improve consistency, and accelerate production cycles.

Key Opportunity

Targeted automation can improve throughput, reduce rejection rates, enhance consistency, and enable scalable manufacturing operations.

Solution Scope

  • Automated stone setting systems
  • Intelligent polishing and finishing solutions
  • AI-enabled quality inspection
  • CAD-integrated robotic workflows
  • Automated production sequencing
  • Real-time monitoring and traceability

Expected Output

A modular automation system enabling higher productivity, consistent quality, and digitally integrated manufacturing.

04

Sustainable Jewellery Manufacturing – Eco-Friendly Transformation

Overview

Traditional jewellery manufacturing processes involve hazardous chemicals, inefficient waste handling, and material losses, creating environmental and operational challenges.

Problem Statement

Build an integrated sustainable manufacturing framework that enables eco-friendly production, waste treatment, and precious metal recovery.

Key Opportunity

Sustainable manufacturing systems can reduce operational costs, improve resource efficiency, enhance compliance, and maximize material recovery.

Solution Scope

  • Eco-friendly chemical alternatives
  • Automated waste treatment systems
  • Precious metal recovery solutions
  • Water recycling and resource optimization
  • ESG compliance monitoring dashboards
  • Environmental analytics and reporting tools

Expected Output

A modular green manufacturing solution enabling environmentally responsible and resource-efficient jewellery production.

05

Affordable Jewellery Prototyping – Rapid Design Validation

Overview

Traditional jewellery prototyping is time-consuming, expensive, and highly dependent on specialized craftsmanship, limiting rapid design experimentation and innovation.

Problem Statement

Develop an affordable rapid prototyping solution that enables quick conversion of digital jewellery concepts into physical, production-ready prototypes.

Key Opportunity

Rapid prototyping can significantly reduce development timelines and costs while enabling faster design validation and multiple design iterations.

Solution Scope

  • AI-assisted 2D-to-3D conversion
  • High-resolution jewellery-focused 3D printing
  • Cost-effective castable material workflows
  • Precision post-processing solutions
  • Rapid visualization and prototype validation
  • AI-assisted generative design support

Expected Output

A streamlined design-to-prototype platform delivering affordable, fast, and production-ready jewellery prototypes.

06

AI for Quality Control at Each Stage of Manufacturing Lifecycle

Overview

Jewellery manufacturing involves multiple precision-driven stages such as casting, stone setting, polishing, plating, and finishing. Manual inspection processes often lead to inconsistencies, delayed defect detection, and dependency on skilled labour.

Problem Statement

Build an AI-enabled quality control system capable of detecting defects, dimensional inaccuracies, surface inconsistencies, and finishing issues across different stages of jewellery manufacturing.

Key Opportunity

Early-stage defect detection can significantly reduce rejection rates, rework costs, production delays, and material wastage while improving overall product consistency.

Solution Scope

  • Surface defect detection
  • Dimensional and weight verification
  • Finish and polish quality assessment
  • Real-time inspection dashboards
  • Automated anomaly detection
  • Stage-wise quality tracking and traceability

Expected Output

An intelligent quality inspection system enabling accurate, real-time, and scalable quality assessment throughout the jewellery manufacturing lifecycle.

07

AI for 2D to 3D (CAD) Design Conversion

Overview

Jewellery design development currently requires significant manual effort to convert sketches and reference images into production-ready CAD models, increasing turnaround time and design dependency.

Problem Statement

Develop an AI-powered solution capable of converting 2D jewellery sketches, concept images, or reference designs into editable 3D CAD-compatible models.

Key Opportunity

Reducing design conversion time can accelerate product development cycles, enable rapid customization, and improve manufacturing readiness.

Solution Scope

  • 2D sketch/image recognition
  • Automated 3D geometry generation
  • CAD-compatible model output
  • Editable and scalable design structures
  • Design validation and manufacturability checks
  • Rapid rendering and visualization

Expected Output

A streamlined design conversion system that transforms 2D concepts into accurate and editable 3D Jewellery CAD models.

08

AI-Driven Design Variations & Generative Jewellery Design

Overview

Jewellery businesses require continuous design innovation and multiple design variations to meet evolving consumer preferences and market trends. Manual creation of design variants is time-intensive and limits scalability.

Problem Statement

Build an AI-enabled generative design platform capable of creating multiple jewellery design variations based on themes, styles, trends, or existing reference designs.

Key Opportunity

AI-generated design exploration can drastically improve design productivity, accelerate trend responsiveness, and enhance product customization capabilities.

Solution Scope

  • Automated design variation generation
  • Trend-based and theme-based design suggestions
  • Style adaptation and customization
  • AI-assisted creative exploration
  • Rapid visualization and rendering
  • Integration with CAD workflows

Expected Output

An AI-powered design generation platform capable of producing scalable, customizable, and market-relevant jewellery design variations efficiently.

Who Should Apply
Basic Eligibility Criteria

Who Should Apply?

This challenge is open to startups and innovators with validated solutions relevant to the Gems & Jewellery ecosystem. The following basic eligibility criteria apply for initial screening:

  • Startup should be a registered entity
  • At least one dedicated full-time founder (preferably two)
  • Startup stage should be TRL 4 or above
  • Founder(s) should be Indian citizens
  • Solutions addressing one or more of the identified problem statements
  • Open to industry collaboration, piloting, and feedback
Apply Now
Programme Journey

Timeline & Stages

A structured, milestone-driven programme designed to identify, evaluate, and support the most promising startups for the Gems & Jewellery industry.

Phase 1

National Call & Outreach

25 May 2026

Phase 2

Screening & Shortlisting

22 Jun 2026

Phase 3

Virtual Industry Evaluation

20 Jul 2026

Phase 4

Physical Industry Showcase

Aug 2026

Phase 5

Cohort Announcement

Post Event

Exact monthly dates will be published upon programme launch.

What You Gain

Key Benefits for Startups

Selected startups gain unparalleled access to India's largest gems and jewellery ecosystem, with tangible opportunities to grow, validate, and scale.

Mentorship Support

Guidance from domain experts, mentors, and industry professionals across the innovation journey.

Industry Connects & Visibility

Showcase solutions to manufacturers, exporters, retailers, and key industry stakeholders.

Access to Ecosystem

Connect with SINE IIT Bombay's incubation network, ecosystem enablers, and innovation support.

Ecosystem Validation

Validate solutions through interactions with experts, practitioners, and industry leaders.

Pilot Opportunities

Opportunity to explore pilot collaborations with industry partners.

Funding Support

Access to potential funding opportunities (subject to startup requirements, problem statement selected, startup stage, and other evaluation parameters).

Implementation Partner

About SINE IIT Bombay

Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) is the technology business incubator at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, established in 2004 to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

SINE supports startups through incubation, prototyping grants, mentorship, fellowships, and accelerator programs across sectors such as AI, ML, MedTech, BioTech, and FinTech. Recognized as a Centre of Excellence by the Government of India.

Over the last two decades, SINE has incubated 320+ startups founded by 1000+ entrepreneurs, creating over 10,000 jobs. With strong collaborations across industry, academia, and government, SINE continues to enable technology-driven innovation and startup growth in India and beyond.

320+

Startups Incubated

1000+

Entrepreneurs

10,000+

Jobs Created

20+

Years of Excellence

SINE IIT Bombay

Disclaimer: Participation in this program does not imply or constitute incubation or affiliation with SINE. Any association with this program should be viewed as independent and distinct from SINE's incubation initiatives.

Got Questions?

Frequently Asked Questions

Startups with a validated prototype or above (MVP, pilot, or market-ready stage) working on solutions relevant to the Gems & Jewellery ecosystem are eligible. The startup must be registered in India.

We welcome startups from prototype/MVP stage through to early-revenue and growth stage. Pre-revenue startups with a strong validated prototype may also be considered.

No. The application process is completely free of charge.

No. Participation in this programme does not imply or constitute incubation or affiliation with SINE IIT Bombay. SINE is the implementation partner for this challenge. Incubation at SINE is a separate process.

Applications are screened for eligibility and problem-fit, followed by a virtual evaluation round with an expert jury, an industry showcase/demo day, and final cohort selection by GJEPC.

The programme provides access to investors and potential funding opportunities. Direct grant funding is not guaranteed, but selected startups may be connected with relevant investors and funding bodies.

Yes. Startups from adjacent sectors (AI, IoT, sustainability, logistics, fintech, etc.) whose solutions can be applied to the Gems & Jewellery industry are encouraged to apply.

The programme runs over approximately 5 months from application launch to cohort selection. Detailed monthly timelines will be shared upon programme launch.

Ecosystem

Partners & Ecosystem Support

The JewelStart Industry Innovation Challenge is backed by leading industry bodies, ecosystem enablers, and institutional partners committed to driving innovation in the Gems & Jewellery sector.

GJEPC

Knowledge Partner

SINE IIT Bombay

Implementation Partner

Additional ecosystem partners and sponsors will be announced soon.

Get In Touch

Contact Information

For queries related to the JewelStart Industry Innovation Challenge, reach out to our programme team.

Email Us

startup@gjepcindia.com

For programme queries & applications

Call Us

022 4226 3800

Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm IST

Visit Us

D2B, D-Tower, West Core Wing, Bharat Diamond Bourse, BKC, Mumbai – 400 051

Ready to Apply?

Apply Now

Join India's first industry-led innovation challenge for the Gems & Jewellery sector. Applications are open for startups across India.

Legal

Terms & Conditions

  • Confidentiality: All information submitted through the application form will be treated as confidential and used solely for programme evaluation purposes by GJEPC, JewelStart, and SINE IIT Bombay.
  • IP Ownership: Applicants retain full ownership of their intellectual property. Participation in this programme does not transfer any IP rights to GJEPC, JewelStart, or SINE IIT Bombay.
  • Selection Discretion: GJEPC reserves the right to select, reject, or shortlist any application at its sole discretion. The selection decision is final and binding.
  • Participation Conditions: Selected startups are expected to participate actively in all programme stages including evaluations, showcases, and interactions as required by the programme team.
  • No Guarantee: Participation in this programme does not guarantee incubation, funding, pilot opportunities, or any other specific outcome.
  • SINE Disclaimer: Participation in this programme does not imply or constitute incubation or affiliation with SINE IIT Bombay. Any association with this programme should be viewed as independent and distinct from SINE's incubation initiatives.
  • Programme Changes: GJEPC reserves the right to modify, postpone, or cancel the programme at any time without prior notice.
  • Governing Law: This programme is governed by the laws of India. Any disputes shall be subject to the jurisdiction of courts in Mumbai.

Full terms and conditions will be published by GJEPC prior to the programme launch.