Korean online beauty retailer Memebox raises $66m

Existing investors Goodwater Capital and Pejman Mar Ventures also participated.

Founded by Dino Ha, a former employee at fashion brand Tom Ford, Memebox began as a beauty box company in 2012. It partnered with cosmetic companies to provide makeup and skincare samples to customers in return for feedback. The following year, Memebox relocated its headquarters to San Francisco from Seoul, and became the first Korean start-up to be accepted into Y Combinator's accelerator program.

The company has since pivoted to a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model, selling both third-party brands - it currently has over 1,200 Korean brands - and its own product lines. The platform generated more than $150 million in gross merchandise value for the 12 months ended June, up 280% year-on-year, Arnold Hur, Memebox's president, told TechCrunch.

Korea is still the largest single market for Memebox, but China and the US are growing fast. These two countries now account for more than half of the company's overall revenue.

Last year in March, the start-up closed a $17.5 million Series B round from a group of Silicon Valley-based investors including Formation 8, Goodwater Capital, AME Cloud Ventures and FoundersClub. The valuation was said to be $100 million. The net proceeds from the latest round will be used to open more physical stores and expand into new markets.

Fueled by the popularity of local TV dramas and K-pop, demand for Korean cosmetics - particularly within Asia - is on the rise. Last month, L Capital Asia bought a minority stake in Clio Cosmetics, a color cosmetics manufacturer, for $50 million. Bain Capital Private Equity and Goldman Sachs also recently agreed to acquire a majority position in Carver Korea, a specialist cosmetics supplier, for about $350 million.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Venture
• Early-stage
• Technology
• Consumer
• South Korea
• TMT
• Formation Group
• USA
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• China