Social Bella International (Sociolla), the leading beauty and personal care e-commerce player in Indonesia, raised $56.6 million in fresh funding led by L Catterton.

WHO: Founded in 2015 by Christopher Madiam, John Marco Rasjid, and Chrisanti Indiana, Social Bella International has evolved from an e-commerce platform to a physical and digital ecosystem becoming the leading beauty and personal care e-commerce player in Indonesia. The business has rapidly grown to offer beauty enthusiasts an omnichannel shopping experience through its e-commerce platform and Sociolla stores and recently expanded into Vietnam last year. The brand’s ecosystem consists of:

• SOCO – an online consumer review platform for beauty
• Beauty Journal – an online beauty and lifestyle media with O2O marketing service
• Sociolla – an omnichannel beauty retail concept with e-commerce offline stores
• Lilla by Sociolla – a beauty e-commerce service designed specifically for mothers
• Brand Development – business offering end-to-end distributor service for beauty and personal care brands

With over $25 billion of equity capital across its fund strategies and 17 offices around the world, L Catterton is the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm. Since 1989, the firm has made over 200 investments in leading consumer brands. L Catterton has significant experience investing globally in the beauty and personal care category. Current and past investments include Marubi, S.p.A., IL MAKIAGE, Intercos, Function of Beauty, TULA, Frederic Fekkai, and many others. This investment will be L Catterton’s first investment in Indonesia and will join an expanding portfolio of high-growth, tech-enabled consumer companies in Asia.

WHY: The fresh capital will be used for product innovation and for further expansion across Southeast Asia.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “The beauty and personal care category continues to see increasing penetration around the region with innovative players like Sociolla providing consumers with greater options, premium products, and improved accessibility both online and offline,” said Yock Siong Tee, L Catterton Principal and Investment Lead for Southeast Asia. “Sociolla’s innovations have delighted both consumers and brand principals equally in this attractive category. We are delighted to partner with a team that has demonstrated a strong track record of helping beauty brands rapidly grow in Indonesia to achieve an at-scale platform, and we look forward to supporting Sociolla in the next chapter of its growth.”

“The team at Sociolla is delighted to welcome L Catterton as a strategic shareholder and partner,” said Christopher Madiam, John Marco Rasjid, and Chrisanti Indiana, co-founders of Sociolla. “L Catterton will support Sociolla to engage and reach our ever-growing consumer base as we continue to roll out the #1 beauty ecosystem with our integrated platforms in Southeast Asia: Sociolla, Soco, Beauty Journal, Lilla, and SDI. We are confident that L Catterton’s global expertise in the consumer sector will position us for continued success.”

DETAILS:

• Social Bella International raised $56.6 million in fresh funding led by L Catterton and with participation by existing investors East Ventures and Jungle Ventures,
• The deal marks L Catterton’s first invesment in Indonesia—Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
• L Catterton will join the company’s board and support the founders in reaching new consumers and meeting the growing demand within the beauty and personal care category.
• Social Bella International secured $58 million in a Series E funding round from existing investors Temasek, Pavilion Capital, and Jungle Ventures.
• The company reports 20.2 million registered users on its Sociolla, SOCO, and Beauty Journal platforms in 2019, and is targeting 100 million unique visitors by 2021.
• Series D (2019): $40 million from lead investors EV Growth and Temasek as well as new backers EDBI, Pavilion Capital, and Jungle Ventures.
• Series C (2018): $12 million from lead investors EV Growth, Sinar Mas, and Yahoo Japan, along with Japanese beauty and fashion company Istyle and an unnamed “major institutional investor from Singapore.”
• Series B (2017): Undisclosed amount from Istyle and East Ventures.
• Series A (2015): A seven-figure amount from Venturra Capital (lead), East Ventures, and Steve Christian of Indonesia’s KapanLagi Network.
• In Indonesia, Social Bella competes with Orami, which secured a $15 million round of investment in 2016, and LYKE, which raised $4 million in Series A funding from a German VC fund in the same year.