MILAN — Beauty brand Yepoda has closed a series A funding round led by JamJar Investments and involving former Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. executive Chris Good, who will join the label not only as investor but also as adviser.
Additional funding for the round came from V3 Ventures, led by Treatwell founder Lopo Champalimaud, and Slingshot Ventures.
The value of the investment was not disclosed, but Yepoda said the financing will be used to expand its product range as well as global footprint and omnichannel offering. To this end, the brand will open its first brick-and-mortar store worldwide in Milan on Dec. 5.
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Based in Germany, Yepoda was launched in 2020 by Veronika Strotmann and Sander van Bladel with a mission to make K-beauty accessible to the Western market. The label focuses on products with clean and vegan formulations developed in South Korea, resulting in an assortment that mirrors the country’s famous skin care routine. Completed with beauty accessories, Yepoda’s offering includes cleansers, serums and moisturizers retailing at prices ranging from 8 euros for single sheet masks to roughly 30 euros for creams.
Bestsellers comprise The Depuff Eyespresso eye patches with caffeine and green tea; The Eyes Cream with phytomucin, a plant-based alternative to snail mucin; The Bubble Double cleansing foam with pomegranate and salicylic acid, as well as The Repair Hero and The Glow Hero serums.
Since its launch, Yepoda’s popularity on social media helped fueled its rapid growth across Europe, enabling the brand to attract more than 350,000 customers in its core markets, which are Italy, France, Germany and Spain.
“Rarely I’ve seen a new beauty brand make such a significant impact so quickly,” said Good in a statement. “Yepoda has established itself as a leading brand for K-beauty in Europe and has managed to build not only a true love brand with a loyal customer base but also a product assortment with exceptional formulations.”
As reported, Good retired as the Estée Lauder Cos.’ group president, North America, in June 2022. He was elevated to that role in 2018. Prior to his time in North America, he was named president of the beauty giant’s U.K. and Ireland business in 2014 and held myriad other roles with the company, which he joined in 1987.
“Chris’ extensive experience in the beauty industry makes him an extraordinary adviser for Yepoda who can support us to grow our market presence with his invaluable insights and strategies,” said Strotmann.
V3 Ventures’ cofounders Champalimaud and Vaidya are also veterans of the industry and expected to bring their expertise to the young label. The former founded and built hair and beauty booking platform Treatwell from 2008 to the end of 2019, leading the company through a major European expansion campaign that included five acquisitions. The latter launched Dr. Vaidya’s in 2016 and built it into the largest Ayurvedic direct-to-consumer brand in India, with more than 2 million customers and more than 80 products by the time he sold the company four years later.
The lead investor of the round, JamJar Investments, is a venture capital firm that specializes in early-stage consumer brands and has backed food delivery service Deliveroo, watch trading marketplace Chronext and coffee retailer and brand Bluebottle, among others.
“Yepoda is one of the hottest brands we’ve ever been invested in,” said JamJar cofounder Richard Reed. “They combine front-edge innovation in skin care with deep Korean authenticity, an uncompromising approach to sustainability, endless creativity and only make products of the highest quality, all of which combined with the talented founders and team explains their stunning growth.”
Dutch venture fund Slingshot Ventures invests in consumer-centric business, too, including the Wild Cosmetics company of refillable natural deodorant and the Boldking brand of grooming products for men.
In a statement, Yepoda’s founders welcomed the new investors, underscoring that “we all believe in growing strong, sustainable consumer brands and with their support, Yepoda has everything that it takes to become an even more significant player in the beauty industry.”
