April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s beauty startup Memebox announced on Dec. 16 that it has secured another $60 million in funding from nine investors including Goodwater Capital, Altos Ventures and Formation Group.

The online beauty retailer said that the new round of investments came as an extension of the funding the firm had raised back in August, which had stood at $66 million.

A Memebox offline store in Hongdae, northwestern Seoul. Memebox.

With the new funding, Memebox has secured a total of $160 million from global investors since its foundation in Seoul four years ago.

The beauty startup plans to use the new funds to streamline its mobile services, develop a database of products and customers data and expand its global operations focused mainly on China and the US, it said.

Memebox was launched in 2012 as a subscription-based beauty product delivery service, partnering with small Korean cosmetics makers to provide free product samples to customers in return for user feedback.

The following year, it became the first Korean startup to secure funding from Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator, through which the firm raised large-sum investments from global venture capital funds and major investors.

The company has since transformed itself into a mobile e-commerce platform that sells some 170,000 cosmetics and beauty products at discounted prices. Around 83 percent of its online sales are generated via its smartphone app which has hit more than 4 million downloads.

“What Memebox is doing with mobile and video is unprecedented in the beauty landscape. Memebox has the heart of a high-end brand, the brain of a deep data company, and the muscle memory of a social network,” said Eric J. Kim, a managing partner at Goodwater Capital and Memebox board member.

“At its core, Memebox is dedicated to delighting this generation of customers who care deeply about beauty and skincare,” Kim added.

In addition to its role as a beauty retailer, Memebox now runs four in-house brands, including Pony Effect, launched in conjunction with Korean YouTube star and makeup artist Pony, as well as I’m Meme, Bonvivant and Nooni.

“By combining what we’ve learned from our customer data with the technology available to us in our labs, we’re able to create high quality, effective and affordable products that our customers are looking for,” said Memebox CEO Ha Hyung-seok.

“Our investment in our own facilities, combined with our startup ethos, has allowed us to quickly evolve to meet market demand for innovative and effective beauty worldwide,” Ha said.

Eyeing new opportunities in the offline-to-online business, Memebox has also opened brick-and-mortar stores for its in-house brands in major Seoul neighborhoods, including Gangnam, Hongdae, Shinchon and Myeong-dong.

By Sohn Ji-young/The Korea Herald (jys@heraldcorp.com)