The funds will be used to expand the reach of the online luxury goods resale site

Worthy, the online marketplace for pre-owned jewelry, diamonds, and luxury watches, has raised $8 million in its Series B, or second, funding round.

Investment in the round was led by Carmel Ventures, a member of the Viola Group. Other investors included Meir Barel of Star Ventures and Worthy board member Eddy Shalev, who is the founder of Genesis Partners.

It was also announced that Shlomo Dovrat, cofounder of the Carmel Ventures, will join the board.

“We believe there is a significant opportunity in ‘re-commerce’ for privately owned high-value jewelry,” said Dovrat. “We at Carmel are committed to invest in companies that aim to transform large markets, and we are excited about Worthy’s vision, team, and potential. We look forward to work with Worthy’s team and will actively support them as they expand the business.”

Ben De-Kalo, founder and CEO of Worthy, shared his excitement about the round.

“U.S. households constitute, in effect, the single biggest diamond mine in the world, with over $1 trillion worth of polished diamonds,” he said. “The future of diamonds lays with recycling already-mined diamonds and repurposing them. Worthy aims to transform a very large market. We are grateful for the trust by Carmel Ventures, a world class firm, and are excited to be working with Shlomo Dovrat to build a category leader.”

The funds will be used to expand Worthy’s marketplace presence in the United States and for product innovations. In addition, the 40-person company plans to add 20 new positions in the next year. In the past year, the company has made three significant hires: Peter Schneirla was named president; Gil Cadot was named chief operating officer; and Roy Albers was named head of evaluations.

Its Series A, or first, funding round resulted in $8.5 million. 

JCK