JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - A local beauty-tech company, Social Bella, has raised fresh funding amounted to Rp818 billion (US$56.80 million), led by United States’ investment and management firm, L Catterton. Involved in this funding round were Jungle Ventures, Indies Capital, and East Ventures.
For Catterton, this is a firs investment in Indonesia and had provided funding to more than 200 leading companies from various segments and various industries, including LVMH. While, the others are the existing shareholders of the startup.
President & co-founder of Social Bella, Christopher Madiam, stated, “Cooperation and investment from L Catterton, Indies Capital, East Ventures and Jungle Ventures will boost our capabilities in delivering technology-based innovations.”
Principal at Catterton and investment lead for Southeast Asia, Yock Siong Tee, added that the penetration of the beauty and personal care industry in Southeast Asia continues to grow rapidly with innovative players like Sociolla. The digital firm had secured funding from leading investors including Singapore-based Temasek, Pavilion Capital and Jungle Ventures.
in 2018, Sociolla closed a major funding of $12 million, led by EV Growth to build a platform, SOCO. Participating in the round as well are istyle Inc., and one major institutional investor from Singapore. Founded in 2015 by John Rasjid, Christopher Madiam, and Chrisanti Indiana, Sociolla focused on e-commerce business in Indonesia offering a range of authentic legal-certified beauty products, from makeup, skin care, hair care, tools to fragrance.
Following Series A funding from Venturra Capital and East Venture in 2015 and Series B funding in January 2017 in partnership with istyle Inc., Japan’ largest beauty platform owner and operator, Sociolla has grown. The collaboration with istyle gives access to 14 million reviews for beauty products.
Shinichiro Hori, Partner at EV Growth, said, ”From the view point of market opportunity, we believe beauty sector is very promising. Beauty tech is proven by istyle in Japan and support from iStyle will be fruitful for the future of Sociolla.”
Today, make-up is increasingly becoming part of women’s lifestyles, supported with a strong female population now over 130 million in Indonesia. Currently, cosmetic products have become a primary requirement for women who are the main target of the cosmetics industry.
In addition, along with current development, the cosmetic industry is also beginning to innovate on cosmetic products for men and children. With the rapid trend of digital marketing, many producers have used the online platform to promote their products and hire celebrity with a high reputation as brand ambassador.
EV Growth is a new fund established on the initiative of East Ventures, Sinar Mas Digital Ventures and Tokyo based venture capital YJ Capital. The venture capital company has expanded its B2C business, Sociolla, to Vietnam and now has opened 21 omni-channel shops in nine cities in Indonesia and one in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
US$1: Rp14,400
Written by Editorial Staff, Email: theinsiderstories@gmail.com
