DE BEERS SEEKING SYNTHETIC DIAMOND START-UPS IN SILICON VALLEY

Diamond mining giant De Beers has opened a venture capital office in California’s Silicon Valley dedicated to identifying and funding start-up companies to develop applications for its lab-grown diamonds, the Mercury News reports.

Susie Wheeler, managing director of Element 6 Ventures, says that synthetic diamonds can be employed in a range of industries, due in part to thediamonds’ ability to “perform in extreme environments.”

Element 6 Ventures, founded in 2007 and until now based in Luxembourg, is also constructing a factory in Santa Clara to manufacture synthetic diamonds.

-Rapaport