International Gemological Institute is the world’s largest certifier of lab-grown diamonds and the second-largest independent diamond certifier overall - the trust layer that sits between a manufacturer and a buyer, verifying what a stone is, how good it is, and whether it is natural or lab-grown. Founded in Antwerp in 1975 and now headquartered in Mumbai, the company was the first global certification body to grade a lab-grown diamond, in 2005, and that early move positioned it to ride the LGD wave to a roughly 65% share of global LGD certifications by 2023. The recurring approach is simple: IGI earns a fee every time it issues a grading report, and it grows by putting its laboratories as close as possible to where the stones are made - including inside the factories of the biggest growers - so that rising production volumes feed directly into rising certification volumes.
Business segments
A single engine - diamond, gemstone and jewelry certification - supported by an in-house school system that trains gemologists and feeds the talent pipeline, plus a newly acquired colored-gemstone specialist that extends the same certification model into a premium niche.
1. Diamond and jewelry certification: the trust layer between factory and counter
IGI earns a fee on every grading report it issues, and its volumes rise in lockstep with the production of the lab-grown diamond growers whose factories house IGI’s in-factory labs.
- Paid per report, not per carat - revenue comes from the number of grading reports issued, with the average price per report shifting upward when the mix tilts toward larger stones or loose diamonds rather than smaller, lower-value jewelry. In the 15 months to March 2026, the India business alone certified 14.6 million stones and pieces.
- In-factory labs lock in volume - IGI operates 12 grading setups inside the production sites of major lab-grown diamond growers, so stones are graded on the spot as they come off the production line, cutting turnaround time and tying IGI’s volume growth directly to the growers’ capacity expansion.
- The LGD duopoly is structural - the lab-grown diamond certification market is effectively a two-player market, and IGI holds roughly 65% of global LGD certifications by volume, with the top five or six growers themselves controlling 65-70% of production, which reduces the risk of a price war among the very customers who feed IGI’s volumes.
- India is both factory and home market - India cuts and polishes 95% of the world’s diamonds and supplies ~75% of the world’s cut and polished lab-grown diamonds, and IGI holds a 50% market share in the country, which contributes roughly three-quarters of group revenue.
- Certification penetration still has room to run - only 65-70% of diamonds are currently certified, and the industry expects that to reach 80-85% by 2028, which means the addressable market expands even if underlying diamond production stays flat.
2. Colored gemstone certification (AGL): the premium-science extension
The 2026 acquisition of American Gemological Laboratories adds a laboratory with a 50-year pedigree in colored-stone origin reports, serving luxury brands and auction houses that demand scientific rigor.
- First-mover in origin reports - AGL was the first US gemological laboratory to issue country-of-origin reports and the first in the world to quantify colored stone quality, giving it a brand that matters to high-end buyers.
- Bought for its expertise, kept independent - IGI acquired AGL for USD 9 million upfront in February 2026, and the founder continues as President and Chief Gemologist while the lab operates under its own name from New York, preserving the specialist reputation that luxury clients pay for.
- IGI’s global footprint is the growth lever - the plan is to give AGL access to IGI’s 31 laboratories across 10 countries so it can offer colored-gemstone certification beyond the US market for the first time, using IGI’s infrastructure to scale a business that was generating under USD 4 million in revenue before the deal.
IGI School of Gemology
Eighteen schools across six countries train the gemologists the industry needs - and in doing so, they build brand awareness and create a pipeline of future customers for IGI’s certification services.
- A talent factory for the trade - the schools offer programs ranging from Graduate Gemologist to Jewelry Design CAD, serving wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers and individuals who need skilled staff, which in turn deepens IGI’s relationships across the supply chain.
- More schools than any global peer - IGI operates the largest combined network of laboratories and schools among its competitors, which means it touches the industry at both the grading bench and the classroom desk.
- Revenue is secondary to reach - course fees are recognized over the duration of the program, but the strategic value lies in driving brand awareness and acquiring new certification customers, not in the fee income itself.
Group structure and partners
Blackstone owns three-quarters of the listed Indian parent, which acquired the legacy Belgian and Dutch entities at the time of the 2024 IPO to bring the global network under one consolidated group.
- Promoter control with public float - Blackstone holds 76.55% through BCP Asia II TopCo, with foreign institutional investors at 8.6%, domestic institutions at 6.4%, and the public at 8.45%.
- The IPO proceeds bought the global network - the company used Rs. 13 billion of IPO funds to acquire 100% of International Gemmological Institute BV (covering Belgium and the US) and IGI Netherlands B.V. (covering Dubai, Israel, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and Egypt), turning what had been separate promoter entities into consolidated subsidiaries.
- Still expanding geographically - since the IPO, the group has incorporated a new subsidiary in Dubai and received board approval from a step-down subsidiary for a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, both aimed at extending certification and education services into new markets.
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