Investors add $60 million to Memebox

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Investors add $60 million to Memebox

Cosmetics retailer Memebox has raised another $60 million in funding from global venture capitalists, the company said Friday.

The e-commerce company specializing in Korean beauty products secured investors in a new Series C round from the United States, Hong Kong, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, including Formation Group and Goodwater Capital.

“Our opinion is that investors saw potential in our database accumulated by the website,” said a spokesman for Memebox, which focuses on K-beauty. “The information on consumption patterns of our users can also be applied for developing products for our in-house brands as well.”

Its previous Series C funding was in August, when it raised $66 million. CEO Brain Koo of Formation Group said then that Memebox is “mobile-friendly and has a management system that complies well with trend-conscious consumers.”

Since its founding in 2012, Memebox has raised $160 million in venture capital. Its first funding was in 2013 from the U.S. seed accelerator Y Combinator. The company plans to use the new capital to analyze data on products and consumers, as well as strengthen its position in the market.

Memebox does particularly well in sales on mobile, accounting for 80 percent of the company’s yearly revenue. The social media accounts are a model for online communication.

In the last two years, the company jumped into offline businesses as well, launching private beauty brands and opening brick-and-mortar shops in Seoul.

“Memebox is opening a new era of cosmetics retailing by combining big data, social networking, mobile and video content,” said Eric J. Kim, a Memebox board member and a managing partner at Goodwater Capital.


BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
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