Portfolio.
Matt Lauzon. Gemvara
Gemvara is the revolutionary leader of fine jewelry shopping online. Jewelry lovers and gift givers now have access to 29 different gemstones, 9 precious metals, and over a thousand styles to create a one-of-a-kind piece that captures their personal story or unique inspiration. Every piece of heirloom-quality jewelry is skillfully handcrafted to order in the USA. With 24/7 customer care, a 101-day return policy, free shipping, free engraving, and free ring sizing, shopping and creating is simple and fun. Gemvara combines the values of traditional jewelry creation with modern technology to truly provide shoppers with fine jewelry exactly the way they want it, always.
Matt Lauzon
While still an undergrad at Babson College, Matt Lauzon and a fellow classmate co-founded Paragon Lake, a platform developed to streamline the manufacturing process for independent retail jewelry stores across the country. Paragon Lake launched in 2006; the company installed computer kiosks inside retail stores so customers could virtually create tailored pieces otherwise not kept in stock by the retailer.
In 2011, Matt transformed Paragon Lake into what Gemvara is today; a direct-to-consumer, online retailer of customizable fine jewelry. His “meCommerce” vision provides everyone with a seamless online shopping experience to discover the perfect piece of jewelry. Taking notes from how Dell transformed PC customization, Zappos revolutionized online customer service and Netflix used targeted data to meet customer needs, Matt is changing the way jewelry is bought and sold, leading Gemvara to become the world’s fastest growing online jeweler.
Gemvara was officially launched in March 2010 and Matt has already secured three rounds of funding totaling over $25M in financing from Highland Capital Partners, Canaan Partners and Balderton Capital. He is one of the only company founders in the New England area, under age 30, to obtain VC funding in the past five years.
Matt earned a B.S. in Business Management from Babson College where he was an Arthur M. Blank Scholar. He was also on the winning team for the John H. Muller Jr. Business Plan Competition and was awarded the Shelby Cullom Davis prize for social entrepreneurship. Most recently, Babson College awarded Matt with its Distinguished Alumni Award.
Matt served on the 2010 Future Leaders Group for the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange and the Advisory Board for the annual Nantucket Conference, which brings together entrepreneurs and innovators, and was also an honoree on Inc. Magazine’s 2011 “30 Under 30” list.”
