AmorePacific unveils 5 beauty tech start-ups

AmorePacific Group unveiled five beauty tech start-ups that the company has been fostering for the past six months in its latest attempt to stay relevant in the fast-changing beauty industry.

This is the first time the cosmetics giant unveiled the name of the start-ups selected for its fostering program, APTechUP+, launched back in January.

In collaboration with the Korean start-up accelerator FuturePlay, AmorePacific held a demo day on Friday where the selected start-ups - Virtualive, Biovit, Trove, Paffem and Reziena - presented progress in technology and service during the past six months.

With additional evaluation, AmorePacific said it will narrow the finalists down to see who will receive further funding and possibly form a strategic partnership with the company.

Virtualive lets users see themselves with different hairstyles using augmented reality technology. Through the app Hairfit, users can add different hairstyles to their photos. Merchandising-related services or products will become available in the future, according to the start-up.

Biovit specializes in developing an anti-infective protein that could be used to coat items to prevent possible viral infection. In the beauty world, viral infection tools such as brushes and cushions are a hot new area of development. Trove enables customers to self-analyze their skin type using photos, based on its deep learning algorithm. Partnering with cosmetics brands, the service will later offer recommendations and merchandising services.

Paffem offers a customized perfume service. Through its self-developed algorithm, it recommends scents to users and even sends them samples.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]