Mahiar Borhanjoo, currently Managing Director of Venus Jewel International; and erstwhile Executive Director of Sales and Sightholder Services at De Beers' Diamond Trading Company, has been recently recruited by the DFL Group  to serve as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective June 17, 2019.

The DFL Group is building “an international ecosystem that will provide multiple suppliers and buyers with financing, online sales capacity and a comprehensive selection of polished diamonds, along with gemmological, logistic and market-intelligence support”, the Company said in a press statement announcing the appointment.

UNI.Diamonds, is the Group’s flagship online diamond trading platform, which was launched at the beginning of October 2018. It is currently pegged as the industry’s fastest growing B2B enterprise, with a turnover growing at a 30 per cent rate on a quarterly basis, the Company divulged.

Since 2015, during his time with the Indian-headquartered Venus Jewel, renowned as one of the world’s largest polished diamond manufacturers and suppliers, Borhanjoo oversaw the transformation of the company’s brand and online platform, to provide a superior customer experience. Prior to that, he served for six years as the Executive Director of Sales and Sightholder Services of the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), the sales arm of the De Beers Group of Companies, where he led a global team that achieved more than US$ 6 billion in annual revenues.

Borhanjoo parted from De Beers after successfully overseeing the team’s migration from London to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.

“With a proven and successful track record, both inside and outside the diamond sector, Mr. Borhanjoo will be a joining a techno-centric organisation that aims to become a disruptive force in the diamond industry,” DFL said. “It will manage this by providing sorely-needed financing to multiple diamond manufacturers, as well as know-how and technical support in making their merchandise available online, and then delivering the goods securely to a global client base. Through UNI.Diamonds, the DFL Group is rapidly creating one of the largest and most comprehensive suppliers of polished diamonds to the international market.”

“Mahiar is an exceptional business leader who has earned tremendous success throughout his career,” said Gil Melamed, a Co-founder and Board Member of the DFL Group. “He has led companies through transformative and progressive change, balancing the age-old legacy of diamonds with cutting-edge technology. His knowledge of the industry and experienced leadership will help drive DFL forward, transforming this business. We are delighted to welcome him into our corporate family as CEO, and wish him every success.”

Borhanjoo commented: “I am honored and privileged to become a part of such a great organisation, which I firmly believe will transform the diamond business, drawing from the collective strength, skill and talent of companies from around the world. DFL and UNI.Diamonds are not only committed to a more efficient, more economic and more reactive diamond value chain, but also one that is ethical, transparent and traceable. I am looking forward to working with the DFL team and all our partners toward reaching these goals. I would like to thank the group’s Board of Directors and its operations team for the opportunity they have provided me.” 

Pic Cap: Mahiar Borhanjoo, newly appointed CEO of the DFL Group.
Pic Courtesy: DFL Group