The pressure on the global supply chain has been further strengthened after the outbreak of the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine, consumers have begun to cut their beauty consumption expenditure in the recession, and the epidemic in China, as an important beauty manufacturing base and market, has re-emerged, and global beauty companies are facing multiple challenges, reflected in the capital market is the decline in the frequency of investment and financing and the amount of transactions.
If international beauty giants and overseas brands can still offset losses slightly through the layout of the global market, the new round of the epidemic is a huge blow to the domestic beauty market. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in March fell by 3.5% year-on-year, and cosmetics fell by 6.3%, and the impact of the epidemic has begun to appear. Shanghai, which gathers a large number of beauty brands and enterprises at all ends of the industrial chain, has become the center of the whirlpool of this round of epidemic, factory shutdowns, logistics restrictions can be said to be a "crossing" for the beauty industry, new brands and small brands that lack resources and experience may be difficult to sustain, and the economic downturn and uncertainty of the prospects have also made capital tend to be conservative.
At present, Shanghai's beauty companies have begun to gradually resume work, logistics is also gradually recovering, and future capital may pay more attention to enterprises and brands with long-term profitability, flexibility and adaptability.
BeautyInc Beauty Observation According to public information statistics, from March 1 to April 28, there were 15 major investment and financing events in the international beauty market, hair care and "pure" beauty track became highlights, 10 major investment and financing events occurred in the domestic beauty market, and the investment in emerging brands almost disappeared in April.
L'Occitane Acquires a Majority Stake in "Pure" Beauty Brand Grow Alchemist
Grown Alchemist is a "pure" beauty brand from Australia, founded in 2008, offering 100% natural, vegan and cruelty-free topical and oral skincare products, as well as hair and body care products. Grown Alchemist's sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 30% over the past five years, and according to industry sources, the acquisition cost more than $50 million (about $36 million).
L'Occitane, the group's main brand, is one of the representative brands of natural beauty, and there are also a number of natural beauty brands such as Melvita and Erborian, and now L'Occitane has set its sights on "pure" beauty that goes further than this, following the announcement at the end of last year to acquire Sol de Janeiro, a body care brand with a main "pure" formula. Not only L'Occitane, but also big beauty groups are acquiring independent "pure" beauty brands to occupy the leading position in this track, Clarins Announced the acquisition of Ilia in February this year, and Procter & Gamble also announced the acquisition of Farmacy at the end of last year.
Thai Volkswagen beauty brand Mistine completed a series A financing of more than 200 million yuan led by Cathay Fund
Mistine was founded in 1988, mainly concerned about the tropical climate consumers' waterproof sweatproof, long-lasting makeup needs, in 2016 into the Chinese market, sunscreen products in the domestic has a high reputation, according to the brand introduction, its star product "little yellow hat sunscreen" in the Tmall sunscreen category sales ranked first.
Emerging beauty brands were once the darlings of the capital markets, and brands like Mistine, which have been precipitated for 34 years and have mature operating experience and supply chains, have received high investment, which means that proven long-term profitability will become more and more important in investment decisions in the beauty track. As far as products are concerned, with the increase of consumers' awareness of sun protection, the per capita purchase frequency of the domestic sunscreen market is rising, and the brand that can create ace sunscreen products has become more attractive to capital.
Star beautician Angela Caglia's personal brand completed its first round of funding
Angela Caglia Integrated Beauty was launched in 2017 through luxury beauty retailer Violet Grey, the brand concept is to let consumers get a beauty experience at home, products include LED masks, massage rollers, makeup remover oil, creams, essences, etc., industry insiders estimate that the brand's sales in 2022 will reach 15 million to 20 million US dollars.
The offline consumption restrictions caused by the epidemic have undoubtedly brought rare opportunities for beauty instruments and medical beauty concept products, especially the explosive growth of beauty instruments in the past two years, and the upgrading of home skin care experience is the demand of many consumers at present. The brands created by plastic surgeons and beauticians are also a force to be reckoned with in the beauty industry, such as 111Skin, Kate Somerville, Dr. Barbara Sturm, etc. have already made their own reputation.
Men's beauty brand Scotch Porter completes $11 million Series B funding round
Founded in 2015, Scotch Porter has dabbled in shaving, hair care, skin care, perfumes, health products, supplements and more, focusing on affordable "pure" products, mainly through channels such as Target, Walmart and CVS, and the brand's founder and CEO Calvin Quallis revealed that the brand's retail sales in 2021 increased by 96% year-on-year.
On the one hand, the gradual loosening of the traditional gender definition has allowed more men to start consuming beauty products, bringing capital injection to the men's beauty field, while on the other hand, "smearing and smearing" is still a "frivolous" behavior that undermines masculinity in the eyes of many men, and in the face of this growth obstacle, brands have begun to launch skin care and hair care products in the form of more adaptable supplements for male consumers, including Sketch Porter. The male beauty market still has a lot of potential, and how to create products that are truly acceptable to male consumers is an important issue for brands in the future.
Skincare brand Revea completes a $6 million seed round
Founded in 2019, personalized skincare brand Revea, which mainly applies artificial intelligence and hyperspectral imaging technology to achieve customization, has introduced on-site testing and customization services in a physical store, and the brand plans to migrate similar services to mobile phones in the future, while promoting them to other beauty brands and retailers. The round was led by Alpha Edison and investors included Ulta Beauty.
In order to create more accurate personalized products, hard-core technology in various disciplines has become a hot spot in the beauty industry in recent years, and Oddity, which raised $130 million in January this year, introduced hyperspectral imaging technology based on AI algorithms. The addition of Ulta Beauty also shows the importance retailers attach to technological innovation to enhance the offline experience.
Amyris acquires the "pure" beauty retail brand co-founded by Naomi Watt
Biotech giant Amyris acquired "pure" beauty retailer Onda Beauty, co-founded in 2014 by Larissa Thompson, Sarah Bryden-Brown and actress Naomi Watts, which offers a portfolio of select brands that meet its standards as well as services such as facials. Amyris also plans to work with Naomi Watts to "create a new consumer brand that offers science-based personal care products for menopausal health."
After gaining a foothold in biotechnology with squalane, which accounts for 70 percent of the world, Amyris began to build a matrix of "pure" beauty brands and put its chips on celebrity beauty, as did the acquisition, and for the first time set its sights on retail. The company owns Rose Inc., a hair care brand developed in collaboration with Jonathan Van Ness, and Rose Inc., a beauty brand at Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, whose most recognizable brand Biossance also named Reese Witherspoon as a global brand ambassador last year, and partnered with her production company to co-create video content.
High-end hair care brand Gisou completes Series B financing led by Eurazeo
Founded in 2015 with a focus on honey ingredients, Gisou has experienced rapid growth since the beginning of 2020, and after this round of funding, Eurazeo holds a minority stake in the company, and this round of funding will be used to enhance digital and e-commerce capabilities, strengthen brands and communities, and expand globally, including building teams in North America.
With strong growth, high-end hair care has become a new star in the beauty industry in the past two years, and it has also been touted by capital, Olaplex IPO, Ouai was acquired by Procter & Gamble, and the cutting-edge repair brand K18 was invested, it is foreseeable that the prosperity of high-end hair care will continue in the future, and the product will be further subdivided and usher in more ingredients and technological innovation.
In the past two months, two other curly hair care brands have also gained favor with capital, With In Haircare completing a seed round and Curlsmith being acquired by consumer goods company Helen of Troy for $150 million. In addition, Lanolips, an Australian skincare brand with lanolin as the main ingredient and a multi-purpose product, received a minority investment from Point King Capital, and Bet & Better, a start-up health brand specializing in vitamin-based toothpaste, completed a $4 million financing.
On the raw materials and supply chain side, Dezhixin acquired SFA Romani and Groupe Neroli, based in Grasse, France, to obtain more high-quality natural ingredients and enhance the competitiveness of its premium perfume division. Italian cosmetics maker Gotha Cosmetics has acquired a majority stake in Chinese cosmetics maker Ai Yan Group, a key step in its expansion into the global market, particularly in China. Beauty, personal care and home furnishing products manufacturer KDC/One received investment from KKR, while also acquiring Aerofil Technology, an aerosol and liquids manufacturer, to continue its global expansion.
Play America Mobile will be listed in the form of SPAC
Beauty Mobile, a business solutions provider of beauty and fashion technology, will merge with Provident Acquisition Corp to list on the NASDAQ as an SPAC, and the company is currently valued at $1.02 billion, which is expected to bring a total gain of $335 million, of which $50 million will come from the first public private equity investments, including Chanel, Xunlian, Shiseido and Snap.
Play beauty mobile with AI and AR technology to develop a series of online beauty services, including virtual color testing, skin detection, etc., cooperation objects include Estée Lauder, Decorté and a series of internationally renowned beauty brands, in the meta-universe boom, the market space of these services further expanded. In addition, due to its speed, SPAC has become a very popular listing form in recent years, especially by emerging industries and companies, Perfect Mobile is the next beauty company to choose SPAC after Obagi and Milk Makeup, Manscaped, Edge Systems.
Beauty retail brand Guowei GDFS completed the second round of financing of 10 million yuan led by Hyde Capital and Dayuan Investment
Founded in 2021, GDFS is one of the few brands focusing on lower-tier cities in the beauty collection stores that have risen in recent years, the flagship store is located in Xiaogan, Hubei Province, and the next five years of planning are centered on third-tier cities, supplemented by first- and second-tier cities.
Whether it is the improvement of income level or the increasing convenience of obtaining information, lower-tier cities have shown strong beauty consumption potential, competition in first-tier cities is becoming increasingly fierce, coupled with the land rent in prime locations is a heavy burden on retail brands, low-tier cities have brought them new opportunities, and at present, domestic beauty retail brands Sn.Suki and Noisy Beauty are also expanding the market in lower-tier cities.
High-end fragrance brand Melt Season completed a 10 million angel round of financing led by Breeze Capital
Melt Season's parent company Verse China was founded in 2020, Melt Season is its first brand, has launched 2 series of a total of 6 perfumes, priced between 680 and 1280 yuan, suppliers for Firmenich and Gaosha, according to 36Kr reported, the brand's offline stores will choose single-family buildings according to the city style for renovation, plans to expand at least one city per year, and the overseas business will also start this year.
In recent years, the development of local fragrance brands has begun to make new brands more confident, prices have begun to benchmark international luxury brands, last year's online 90ml perfume price reached 1750 yuan, not only that, these new brands in the brand concept, visual performance also has a high level, while paying attention to the selection and design of offline retail space, Guanxia opened in Shanghai in January this year The second offline store Guanxia Leisure Court was transformed from the Spanish small Western-style building in the 1930s to create a comfortable and pleasant experience space.
Pmpm completed a strategic financing of tens of millions of yuan
The investment is from Tencent Investment, Amber Capital, and is the fifth round of financing completed by Pmpm. Founded in 2019, Pmpm is inspired by globetrotting and has developed different skincare lines based on botanical ingredients from around the globe.
Through the concept of circumnavigation, Pmpm has created an attractive brand story, although under the general trend of functional skin care, new brands can quickly push themselves in front of consumers with popular ingredients, but consumers still need a certain dream or sense of identity brought by the brand, pmpm provides a kind of imagination of the distance. Yamakawa, who announced his financing in February, has adopted a similar approach to branding, evoking the emotional resonance of consumers with its own customs.
Bloomage Biotech acquires 51% of the equity of Yierkang Biotech and enters the collagen industry
Bloomage Acquired 51% of the equity of Beijing Yierkang Biological Engineering Co., Ltd. for 233 million yuan, officially entering the collagen industry. Founded in 1997, Yierkang Bio has many years of experience in collagen-based medical terminal products, mainly including collagen sponges and artificial bone. After the equity acquisition, Yierkang Biotech will become a holding subsidiary of Bloomage Biotech.
In April, when the beauty industry was hit hard and the number of investment and financing fell sharply, Bloomage Bio's acquisition showed its strong strength, and the 2021 financial report showed that the company's operating income reached 4.948 billion yuan, an increase of 87.93% year-on-year, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 782 million yuan, an increase of 21.13% year-on-year. Bloomage Biology with hyaluronic acid raw materials as the core, has established a global leading position and a full category matrix, although not as strong as hyaluronic acid, but the company also has a layout in the collagen field, and Yierkang Bio may bring more possibilities for the existing medical terminals, functional skin care products, functional food business, to achieve Bloomage Bio's ambitions in the collagen industry.
Beauty service chain brand Beautiful Pastoral went to Hong Kong for IPO
On 22 April, Beauty Pastoral Medical & HealthCare Industry Co., Ltd., a provider of daily facial and body care services, submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to initiate an application for listing in Hong Kong. Since 1993, the company has established brands such as Beautiful Pastoral, Bellish, Xiukeer and Yanyuan, covering daily facial and body care, energy instruments and injections, and anti-aging medicine. According to the prospectus, in terms of 2021 revenue, the company is the largest daily facial and body care service and the second largest body and skin care service provider in China, with 177 stores as of December 31, 2021, and total revenue from 2019 to 2021 of 1.405 billion yuan, 1.503 billion yuan and 1.781 billion yuan, respectively, and recorded net profit of 147 million yuan, 152 million yuan and 208 million yuan, respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.9%.
Domestic supervision of the medical aesthetic industry is becoming increasingly stringent, especially for downstream medical aesthetic institutions with mixed fish and dragons and a relatively dispersed market, but it is precisely because of the screening of medical aesthetic institutions by supervision that the head brands with regular and high service quality will obtain greater development opportunities.
Medical beauty and its extended concept in the past two months has received attention from the domestic capital market, in addition to the listing plan of Beautiful Pastoral, youngmay, a technology skin care brand aiming at the middle of medical beauty and home beauty, focusing on hydro-light meters and skin care stock solutions, has obtained tens of millions of yuan of Pre-A round financing, and Suzhou Fumailei Medical Technology Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of high-end medical beauty equipment, has also completed an angel round of financing of tens of millions of yuan.
With the continuous improvement of micro-ecological skin care awareness among domestic consumers, "micro-ecology" has become a cutting-edge brand, the keyword of domestic new products, and the object of capital injection, last year, the micro-ecological skin care brand Yi An State joined the brand portfolio of Yixian e-commerce, and this month, the micro-ecological skin care brand Haipunuo also completed a pre-A round of financing of nearly 10 million yuan.
In addition, baby and child care is becoming a new gold digging ground for the beauty industry, and the child care brand Turtle Dad, which cut into the market from water purification shower gel, announced in March that it had completed a pre-A round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan led by Zhongyuan Capital. BINC
Author: Lee
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