Memebox raises $60 million in Series C funding

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Dec 18, 2016

Memebox, the Korean beauty brand based in San Francisco, announced on Thursday that it has raised $60 million in a Series C funding round led by new and existing investors Goodwater Capital, Altos Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Mousse Partners, Formation Group, Funders Club, Pear Ventures, Cota Capital and Janet Gurwitch. The Series C brings the company’s total funding to $160 million.

Founded by CEO Hyungseok Dino Ha in 2012, Memebox began retailing beauty products before launching its own in-house brands. Memebox will use the new funding to streamline its mobile shopping experience, develop a database of beauty ingredients and products, and build its global operations.

"By combining what we've learned from our customer data with the technology available to us in our labs, we're able to create high quality, effective and affordable products that our customers are looking for," said Ha. "Our investment in our own facilities, combined with our startup ethos, has allowed us to quickly evolve to meet market demand for innovative and effective beauty worldwide."

The company’s early funding, which included $70 million in Series A funding, was put towards creating a mobile shopping experience. Today, the Memebox mobile app represents over 88% of its global online transactions.

In addition to the Series C funding, Memebox recently added Castanea partner and Laura Mercier founder and former CEO Janet Gurwitch to its advisory board. Gurwitch, who previously served on the board of companies including Drybar, Urban Decay (prior to its sale) and First Aid Beauty and invested in the Series C, will advise Memebox on brand strategy, positioning and developing new retail partnerships. She also currently serves on the advisory board of Dollar Shave Club.

Memebox currently operates offices in San Francisco, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore, and it opened its first holiday pop-up in San Francisco at Union Square.