Diamond Foundry
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Diamonds |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Martin Roscheisen, Jeremy Scholz, and Kyle Gazay |
| Products | Diamonds |
| Website |
www |
Diamond Foundry is a California-based diamond producer.
History
Diamond Foundry was founded by Martin Roscheisen, Jeremy Scholz, and Kyle Gazay, a team of engineers who previously worked at Nanosolar. The company began developing its technology in 2012 and launched to the public in November 2015. Initial investors included Mark & Alison Pincus, Jean Pigozzi, Evan Williams, Andreas Bechtolsheim, Andy Yung,[1] Shi Zhengrong, Andrew McCollum, Owen Van Natta, Ziyavudin Magomedov, Jeff Skoll, Scott Banister, Guy Oseary, Obvious Ventures, Vast Ventures, Matias de Tezanos, and Leonardo DiCaprio. By late 2015, the company had raised below $100 million.[2][3][4]
Technology
The company’s technology is able to produce a diamond within a period of two weeks,[5] at the same cost as mining a diamond of equivalent quality from the ground. According to the New York Times, “The process begins with a very thin slice of natural diamond as a substrate and then increases the size of the original diamond material by adding more layers of carbon atoms.”[6] The diamonds are grown in chemical reactors that reach 8000 degrees Celsius,[7] using a plasma-based culturing process.[8] The result of the process is a IIa quality gemstone,[9] which can be grown to up to 9 carats in size.[10]
Online marketplace
The company also runs an online marketplace for diamond jewelry as well as wholesale purchasers in the industrial and scientific fields.[2] The marketplace includes jewelry pieces from independent jewelry designers.[11]
References
- ↑ "Yung family finds there is life after Citic". South China Morning Post. 19 October 2014.
- 1 2 "Silicon Valley company turns to growing diamond". New York Times.
- ↑ Alyson Shontell. "10 billionaires and Leonardo DiCaprio invested in a startup that claims it can grow diamonds in 2 weeks". Business Insider Australia.
- ↑ Fox News Insider. "Leo Invests in Startup 'Growing' Diamonds in a Lab". Fox News Insider.
- ↑ Claire Brownell (28 November 2015). "A diamond is forever. Demand, not so much: The strange economics behind a rock’s worth - Financial Post". Financial Post.
- ↑ "Borrowing From Solar and Chip Tech to Make Diamonds Faster and Cheaper". The New York Times. 12 November 2015.
- ↑ Tanya Lewis, Business Insider (12 November 2015). "Diamonds are forever: Leonardo DiCaprio invested in startup that claims it can ‘grow’ diamonds". National Post.
- ↑ Catie L'Heureux. "Leonardo DiCaprio Has Diamonds for You". New York Magazine.
- ↑ "Solar cuts it with diamonds". The Hamilton Spectator.
- ↑ "Leo DiCaprio Invests In Company That Grows 'Real' Diamonds". Morning Ledger.
- ↑ "Diamonds Born In Santa Clara". TechCrunch. AOL. 11 November 2015.