MILAN — Beauty brand Yepoda has closed a series A funding round led by JamJar Investments and former Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. executive Chris Good, who will join the label not only as investor but additionally as adviser.

Additional funding for the round got here from V3 Ventures, led by Treatwell founder Lopo Champalimaud, and Slingshot Ventures. 

The worth of the investment was not disclosed, but Yepoda said the financing might be used to expand its product range in addition to global footprint and omnichannel offering. To this end, the brand will open its first brick-and-mortar store worldwide in Milan on Dec. 5.

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, leading to an assortment that mirrors the country’s famous skincare routine. Accomplished with beauty accessories, Yepoda’s offering includes cleansers, serums and moisturizers retailing at prices starting 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, in addition to 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 draw greater than 350,000 customers in its core markets, that are Italy, France, Germany and Spain.

“Rarely I’ve seen a latest beauty brand make such a major impact so quickly,” said Good in a press release. “Yepoda has established itself as a number one brand for K-beauty in Europe and has managed to construct not only a real love brand with a loyal customer base but additionally a product assortment with exceptional formulations.”

As reported, Good retired because 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 sweetness giant’s U.K. and Ireland business in 2014 and held myriad other roles with the corporate, which he joined in 1987.

“Chris’ extensive experience in the sweetness industry makes him a unprecedented adviser for Yepoda who can support us to grow our market presence together with his invaluable insights and techniques,” 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 previous founded and built hair and sweetness booking platform Treatwell from 2008 to the tip of 2019, leading the corporate through a serious European expansion campaign that included five acquisitions. The latter launched Dr. Vaidya’s in 2016 and built it into the biggest Ayurvedic direct-to-consumer brand in India, with greater than 2 million customers and greater than 80 products by the point he sold the corporate 4 years later.

The lead investor of the round, JamJar Investments, is a enterprise capital firm that makes a speciality of early-stage consumer brands and has backed food delivery service Deliveroo, watch trading marketplace Chronext and low retailer and brand Bluebottle, amongst others.

“Yepoda is considered one of the most popular brands we’ve ever been invested in,” said JamJar cofounder Richard Reed. “They mix front-edge innovation in skincare with deep Korean authenticity, an uncompromising approach to sustainability, limitless creativity and only make products of the very best quality, all of which combined with the talented founders and team explains their stunning growth.”

Dutch enterprise 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 press release, Yepoda’s founders welcomed the brand new investors, underscoring that “all of us imagine in growing strong, sustainable consumer brands and with their support, Yepoda has all the pieces that it takes to grow to be a fair more significant player in the sweetness industry.”