Scio closes on $1.565 million in equity financing

Scio Diamond Technology Corporation, a producer of lab-grown diamonds, announced having closed on $1.565 million in equity financing in a non-brokered, private placement to a group of accredited investors based in Greenville, SC.

The company intends to employ these funds in its continuing product development and for working capital. “We see increasing demand in the market for lab-grown white diamonds,” noted Gerald McGuire, CEO, Scio Diamond. “We successfully completed product development on lab-grown pink diamonds and have been delivering them to the market since June. Our white diamonds are also being sold in the market; we are focused on these because they will increase our revenue potential in the fast-growing, high-quality lab-grown diamond segment.”

Earlier this year, the company doubled its manufacturing capacity, which can be used for either pink or white diamond production. In 2014, Scio Diamond introduced its lab-grown fancy pink diamonds, certified by the International Gemological Institute (IGI), to the retail market.

Bain & Company’s 2014 report on the global diamond industry noted that “diamond demand is expected to outpace future supply.” Lab-grown diamonds, which are chemically, physically and optically identical to mined diamonds, are a growing portion of the worldwide jewellery market, which is expected to increase by 50 percent per year CAGR through 2018, according to Frost & Sullivan’s 2014 market assessment of grown diamonds.

Scio Diamond applies a unique, proprietary combination of chemistry, engineering and manufacturing discipline to growing diamonds, continuing to make progress in the technology. The company conducts significant research and development to advance the science of lab-grown diamonds, and currently holds 36 U.S and international patents.