Established 1999
The operating system for the $350B global jewelry industry
A 26-year-old fine jewelry house that built — in house — the software the industry has been waiting for. We sell direct to consumers under the Katura brand, license the same platform to other jewelers as K99, and are opening a direct gemstone supply chain from the mines of Minas Gerais. One company. Three moats. Compounding.
Investment Thesis
Why Katura
Jewelry-first, not jewelry-bolted-on
Every feature is purpose-built for jewelers. Diamond search, CAD pipeline, gemstone inventory, carat-level analytics — not a generic Shopify template.
All-in-one replaces 10+ tools
E-commerce + CRM + payroll + email + analytics + wholesale + AI + payments — one login, one bill, one database. No Zapier glue required.
International from day one
24 languages, multi-currency (USD, BRL, EUR, GBP + 160 more), dual-entity payroll (US + Brazil), and Pix/Wise for emerging markets.
AI-native, not AI-appended
GPT-4o writes product descriptions, analyzes expansion cities, generates payroll insights, and powers the business intelligence layer. AI is the engine, not a widget.
Enterprise-grade security
Row-level security on every table, audit logs, role-based access control, encrypted document vault, and SOC2-ready infrastructure.
Real business, real revenue, real customers
Katura isn't a startup pitch deck — it's a 26-year-old jewelry brand that built its own technology stack and is now licensing it to the industry.
Vertically integrated to the source
Katura is opening direct relationships with cutters, lapidaries, and mine operators in Minas Gerais — emeralds, imperial topaz, aquamarine, tourmaline. Margin and provenance our SaaS competitors can't touch.
Developer ecosystem in flight
The K99 App Marketplace lets third parties extend the platform inside a sandboxed, capability-scoped runtime. The same network-effects moat that took Shopify from $1B to $200B+ — designed in from day one with security as the spine.
Three Compounding Moats
Three businesses. One platform.
Each business strengthens the other two. The store proves the platform. The platform pays for the engineering. The supply chain earns margin no SaaS competitor can match.
The Katura Store
A luxury fine jewelry e-commerce experience — engagement rings, custom designs, curated collections, and a wholesale B2B portal. Multi-currency checkout (USD, BRL, EUR), Stripe + Pix payments, and in-house CAD design studio.
- Full e-commerce with multi-currency checkout
- Custom engagement ring design pipeline
- Wholesale portal with tiered B2B pricing
- In-house CAD design & manufacturing
- Jewel Vox editorial blog
- Gift cards, insurance, loyalty programs
The K99 Platform
A multi-tenant SaaS platform that lets any jeweler in the world run their entire business on Katura's infrastructure — e-commerce, CRM, payroll, marketing, AI, analytics, and more. Subscription-based with service add-ons.
- Multi-tenant architecture with full isolation
- 16 integrated modules (see below)
- AI-powered product descriptions & insights
- In-house marketing & design studio (Stella's team)
- Stripe Connect for tenant payments
- White-label ready for enterprise
The Source
Katura is opening direct relationships with cutters, lapidaries, and mine operators in Minas Gerais — the world's richest coloured-gem region. Emeralds, imperial topaz, aquamarine, tourmaline. Margin and provenance no software-only competitor can replicate.
- Direct cutter & lapidary relationships
- Origin documentation merchants can verify
- Q3 2026: founder-led trip to Belo Horizonte, Itabira, Ouro Preto
- Future K99 SKU feed sourced from the trip
- Story-led provenance for the Katura brand
- Buying discipline: small parcels first, paperwork always
The Network-Effects Moat
The K99 App Marketplace
The single biggest reason Shopify defends its valuation isn't checkout — it's the 8,000+ apps merchants depend on. We're building the same flywheel for jewelers, with security designed in from day one.
For developers
Typed SDK, sandboxed runtime, signed bundles, automated + human review, and Stripe Connect billing. 80/20 revenue share, 90/10 for early-access partners.
For merchants
Apps run in cross-origin iframes with capability-scoped permissions and a one-click kill-switch. Magecart-style script injection is structurally impossible.
For Katura
Every app increases switching cost. Every install funnels a 20% take-rate. Every developer becomes a distribution channel for the underlying platform.
Foundation live now at developers.katura1999.com. SDK, sandbox runtime, and review pipeline ship Q4 2026.
Platform Capabilities
16 modules. Zero plugins.
Every module works together out of the box. Your CRM talks to your e-commerce, your payroll reads your time clock, and your analytics sees everything.
E-Commerce
Full storefront with cart, checkout, orders
CRM
Pipeline, leads, deals, customer 360°
Website Builder
28 section types, drag-and-drop
Email Marketing
Campaigns, automations, segmentation
Payroll & HR
17 modules, US + Brazil, dual-currency
Analytics
Real-time dashboards & BI
Diamond Search
2M+ stones via Nivoda marketplace
Payments
Stripe, Wise, Pix, Apple Pay, Amex
Inventory
Multi-location, purchase orders
24 Languages
Full i18n from day one
Security
RLS, audit logs, 2FA, SOC2-ready
API & Webhooks
REST, JSON, real-time events
Gemstone Market
Live Nivoda integration
Wholesale
B2B portal, tiered pricing
AI Descriptions
GPT-4o powered product copy
Mobile Ready
PWA, responsive, iOS-ready
Revenue Model
Six revenue streams
Diversified across recurring SaaS, high-margin retail, service fees, and transaction volume.
SaaS Subscriptions
Monthly/annual plans for jewelers using the K99 Platform — Starter, Growth, Enterprise tiers.
Katura Store (DTC)
Direct-to-consumer fine jewelry sales via katura1999.com — engagement rings, custom designs, luxury goods.
Design Services
In-house marketing and creative studio (led by Stella Barbosa, Chief Marketing Officer) providing brand identity, social media design, and campaign creative to SaaS tenants.
Transaction Fees
Small percentage on payment processing for platform tenants using Katura's Stripe Connect integration.
Wholesale B2B
Wholesale portal enabling jewelers to purchase from Katura's inventory at tiered trade pricing.
AI & Premium Add-ons
Usage-based charges for AI product descriptions (GPT-4o), advanced analytics, and diamond search API access.
By the Numbers
Database Models
TypeScript Files
Languages Supported
Payroll Modules
Platform Modules
Cities Analyzed (BI)
Diamonds Searchable
Year Founded
Technology
Enterprise-grade stack
Built on the same infrastructure trusted by Vercel, Stripe, and OpenAI. Every component is production-grade, battle-tested, and scalable.
Next.js 15
Full-stack framework
React 19
UI library
TypeScript
Type safety
PostgreSQL
Primary database
Supabase
Managed Postgres + Auth
Prisma
ORM (242 models)
Stripe
Payments + Connect
OpenAI GPT-4o
AI layer
Anthropic Claude
AI development
Vercel
Edge deployment
Sentry
Error monitoring
Nivoda
Diamond marketplace
Wise
International payouts
Brevo
Email delivery
AWS S3
Asset storage
TipTap
Rich text editing
Integrated with
Market Opportunity
A massive, underserved market
Global Jewelry Market
Growing 5-6% annually
Jewelry Retailers Worldwide
Mostly using generic tools
Vertically Integrated Competitors
No one does store + SaaS + AI
Competitive Landscape
Jewelers today cobble together Shopify (e-commerce) + HubSpot (CRM) + Gusto (payroll) + Mailchimp (email) + Nivoda (diamonds) + QuickBooks (accounting) + Canva (design) — paying $500–2,000/month in total with no integration between them. Katura replaces all of it with one platform, one login, one database, starting at a fraction of the combined cost.
Shopify
Generic e-commerce. No jewelry features.
Lightspeed
POS-focused. No CRM, no AI, no payroll.
Katura
Everything. Built for jewelers. AI-native.
Roadmap
Where we're going
Katura founded as a fine jewelry brand
Digital transformation begins — e-commerce, admin, CRM
Platform expansion — payroll, BI, AI, multi-currency, 24 languages
SaaS platform launch — multi-tenant architecture, K99 Platform for jewelers
Mobile app (iOS/Android), marketplace, expanded integrations
Minas Gerais sourcing trip — direct relationships with emerald, imperial topaz, and lapidary partners (vertical integration)
K99 App Marketplace foundation — third-party developer ecosystem with sandboxed runtime, mirroring Shopify's app-store moat
Enterprise tier, white-label, international expansion
Series A target — 500+ SaaS tenants, $2M+ ARR, opened sourcing pipeline live
Leadership
Built by jewelers, for jewelers
Lee W. McIntosh
Chief Executive Officer
Third-generation master jeweler and company founder. Sets the creative and business vision for Katura. Decades of fine jewelry expertise spanning European and American traditions.
Zachary Rosser
Chief Technology Officer
Built the entire Katura technology platform from the ground up. Full-stack engineer, product architect, and platform strategist.
Stella Barbosa
Chief Marketing Officer
Leads brand strategy, marketing campaigns, social media, and creative direction for Katura and all platform tenants. World-class luxury design sensibility.
Let's build the future of jewelry together
Katura is raising capital to accelerate SaaS customer acquisition, expand the engineering team, and launch in new markets. We'd love to talk.