Kendra Scott Design
Funding History
| Minority Stake Investment · 02/2017 | $1.0B |
|---|---|
| Minority Investment · 09/2024 | $1.0B |
About
Kendra Scott designs and sells gemstone-inspired fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, home goods and beauty products through its own stores, e-commerce site, and wholesale accounts at retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
- CEO
- Chris Blakeslee
- Headquarters
- Austin, TX
- Founded
- 2002
- Website
- https://www.kendrascott.com
Overview
Kendra Scott founded her namesake jewelry and lifestyle company in 2002 in Austin, Texas with $500 from a spare bedroom, hand-wiring her first collection while pregnant with her first son and selling samples door-to-door to local boutiques.
The company grew into a gemstone-inspired fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, home goods and beauty brand sold through its own stores, department stores and wholesale partners, and took on its first outside capital in July 2014 with a minority growth investment from Norwest Venture Partners.
Berkshire Partners completed a minority stake investment in February 2017 at a valuation of roughly $1 billion, and in September 2024 Singapore-based 65 Equity Partners led a fresh minority investment alongside HPS Investment Partners and Belzberg & Co. at a valuation of more than $1 billion, redeeming Berkshire's and Norwest's preferred stock and increasing founder Kendra Scott's equity position.
Kendra Scott stepped back from the CEO role in 2021 in favor of Tom Nolan, returned as interim CEO in August 2025 after Nolan and two other C-suite executives departed, and moved into the executive chairwoman and chief visionary officer roles in January 2026 when former Athleta CEO Chris Blakeslee was named the company's new chief executive.
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