Estée Lauder made its first investment in a C-beauty brand, making a minority investment in the Chinese clean beauty brand Code Mint.

WHO: Code Mint was founded in 2021 by fashion blogger and reality star Grace Chow to make clean beauty a mainstream concept in China. After leveraging her 11 million+ fans on Weibo for collaborations with beauty brands, she launched her own brand. The range consists of face masks, foundations, lipsticks, eye shadow palettes, and cleansers positioned as toxin-free and sensitive skin–friendly. The brand sold out in one day when it launched on Weibo.

WHY: Recognizing the limitations of influencer brands and the nascent Chinese clean beauty market, Code Mint will leverage Estée Lauder’s R&D capabilities with the aim of becoming a category leader.

DETAILS:

• The Estée Lauder Company investment arm, New Incubation Ventures, has taken a minority stake in Code Mint. No details on the investment were disclosed. 
• Korean cosmetics manufacturer COSMAX made the first early-stage investment in any brand and holds a 6.48 percent stake.
• Code Mint is owned by Hangzhou Jianfa Meixue Technology, founded by internet celebrity Grace Chow, according to corporate information platform Tianyancha. Chow holds a direct stake of 42 percent in Jianfa Meixue and indirectly owns other shares.
• Chow also has an eight-year-old namesake clothing label.