Ross-Simons Invests Millions in E-tailer Luca + Danni

Cranston, R.I.—Jewelry company Luca + Danni Inc. announced the closing of a $6.2 million funding round Monday, raising capital ahead of the holiday season.

Ross-Simons Inc. was the majority investor in the deal alongside PJC, a Boston-based venture capital fund.

Early investor PJC will retain a stake in the company while Luca + Danni founder Fred Magnanimi will remain as CEO and a board member.

Magnanimi, a former investment banker, founded the jewelry e-tailer in 2014 following the death of his brother, Danny. He moved his family back to Rhode Island and set up shop in the same factory his family ran its jewelry business in when he was a child.

“I started this brand to honor my family’s 50-plus-year heritage in U.S.-made handcrafted jewelry and help others embrace the journey of life as I learned to do after losing my brother to leukemia,” Magnanimi said in a press release.

Like another Rhode Island-made jewelry brand, Alex + Ani, Luca + Danni is known for its stacking bangle bracelets, ranging in price from $28 for a single bracelet up to $120 for a set.

Its “build-a-stack” option allows customers to choose up to four bracelets, filtering the options by charm theme and color palette.

Ross-Simons, which is also based in Rhode Island, said it was drawn to the company’s “meaningful purpose, explosive growth and American craftsmanship.”

“We saw a great opportunity with a startup, digitally native brand local to Rhode Island, so we share common roots, that really possessed the ingredients to explosive growth,” Jim Speltz, president of Ross-Simons, said in an interview with National Jeweler Tuesday.

He said the company was non-competitive to Ross-Simons’ core fine jewelry business, with limited overlap in customer base.

Ross-Simons will not carry Luca + Danni’s products in its stores at this point, said Speltz, but there may be an opportunity for cross-promotion in the future.

With this new investment, Luca + Danni said it is set to offer “must-have” gifts for the upcoming holiday season.

The brand’s jewelry is sold via its website, on Amazon and, soon, in Curated by Kohl’s, a section of the department store that will sell online brands in-store.