Financial focus: Amorepacific, L’Occitane and more feature in our latest beauty business and finance update

1 – ‘Emerging powerhouse’: Gen Z and millennial insights key to Amorepacific taking 38.4% stake in COSRX

Knowledge of the Gen Z and millennial consumer combined with a burgeoning global reputation are two of the reasons Korean major Amorepacific has taken a 38.4% stake in cult K-beauty brand COSRX​, as it looks to expand its own footprint overseas.

Founded in 2013 by Jeon Sanghoon, COSRX is best known for sensitive skin products like its Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser, BHA Blackhead Power Liquid, and Acne Pimple Master Patch.

Amorepacific announced that it had decided to acquire a significant minority stake for KRW180bn (U$153m) in the “emerging powerhouse” as part of its Vision 2025 strategy to enter new markets overseas.

“We have been looking for a partner to share the value of New Beauty as stated in our ‘Vision 2025’, which we declared this year as part of the celebration of our 76th anniversary,”​ said Lee Jinpyo, head of Amorepacific group strategy division.

2 – Recovery underway: L’Occitane Q2 sales rebound to surpass pre-pandemic levels by 7%

Hong Kong-listed L’Occitane’s latest quarterly sales figures of the 2022 fiscal year have outperformed those from before the pandemic​ thanks to the performance of key brands, online sales and offline recovery.

L’Occitane International is the manufacturer of beauty and well-being products with brands such as L’OCCITANE en Provence, Melvita, Erborian, and ELEMIS under its banner.

In the second quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, L’Occitane recorded a sales growth of 11.4%. Compared to pre-pandemic levels in FY2020, the group delivered accelerated growth with net sales up 7.0% on a like-for-like basis.

The group recorded sales growth of 11.4% in the second quarter of the fiscal year. L’OCCITANE en Provence recorded growth of 10.9% while ELEMIS reported accelerated growth of 42.6%.

3 – Shopping spree: India’s Good Glamm Group earmarks U$100m to acquire four to six more beauty brands

India’s newly-formed digital cosmetics outfit Good Glamm Group is planning to acquire four to six more digitally-led beauty brands​ after receiving an infusion of funding.

India-based direct-to-consumer beauty brand MyGlamm recently announced the formation of the Good Glamm Group was founded by direct-to-consumer beauty brand MyGlamm in an attempt to consolidate its position as a ‘Digital House of Brands’ powered by a content-to-commerce strategy.

The newly formed group is a consolidation of digital brands including female digital community POPxo, Influencer marketplace Plixxo, and mum and baby platform BabyCharkra.

Together, the group has a network of over 100 million users, 220,000 influencers and 10,000 doctors. Furthermore, it can tap into MyGlamm’s 20,000 offline point-of-sales.

4 – Biotech startup Sequential Skin raises €1.4m – ‘We want to accelerate the future of skin health,’ says CEO

UK-Singapore headquartered biotech start-up Sequential Skin has secured more funding in its latest seed round that it plans to use for global expansion of its at-home skin diagnostics patch​, in both a B2B and D2C capacity, its CEO says.

The latest seed round raised €1.42m ($1.65m) and was led by Estonian early-stage investment firm Metaplanet, supported by Scrum Ventures, SOSV, Genedant and angel investor Ben Holmes. The investment brought total venture funding for Sequential Skin to €1.85m ($2.15m) in 2021, all of which would be pumped into globally expanding reach with its at-home skin patch testing kits that used gene sequencing technology to assess overall skin health, considering genetic predisposition and a person’s current skin microbiome.

Dr Oliver Worsley, CEO and co-founder of Sequential Skin, said global expansion was an important part of the company’s wider goals.

5 – ‘Sephora for men’: MensXP CEO outlines how the company plans to conquer India’s male grooming sector

India-based e-commerce platform MensXP has its sights set on becoming the Sephora of the Indian male grooming market​ and has laid out a three-pronged strategy to achieve it.

MensXP is a men’s lifestyle e-commerce platform that was acquired by media conglomerate Times Group eight years ago.

Speaking to CosmeticsDesign-Asia​, founder and CEO Angad Bhatia expressed his excitement for the men’s grooming space in India, attributing its growth potential to the underlying shifts in consumer lifestyle and attitudes.

“Masculinity in India has gone through a transformational shift. It's no longer about the broad macho image of the Indian man that was depicted earlier in Bollywood movies. The new Indian man is more progressive; he cares about mental health and is alternative in his fashion sense,”​ said Bhatia.