Oh My Cream raised $6.5 million in a second round of financing from Otium Capital to fund a rapid expansion of the French beauty concept store. Founded in 2012 by Juliette Lévy, after graduating from ESSEC business school, the four-year-old retailer sells a highly curated selection of 1,000 references in its freestanding boutiques in Paris and Provence and online. The concept has a distinctly Space NK or Blue Mercury feel with a French twist. Given the trajectory of these two retailers, Otium obviously feels France is ripe for a retail rollout, with plans to quadruple the footprint to 20 locations within the next year. The retailer will provide an interesting distribution outlet for niche brands looking to enter the French market.

IN THEIR WORDS: “The cosmetics market is undergoing a full change: A new generation of consumers with radically different expectations are establishing themselves. Digital is reinventing the ways of distribution and communication,” stated Antoine Fine, the partner who heads up Otium Capital’s consumer division. He added that such entrants are destabilizing the industry stalwarts, and that Oh My Cream is a symbolic actor in this transformation.

DETAILS:

• The valuation of the investment was not disclosed.
• Otium Capital provided a cash injection of $6.5 million for expansion.
• This is the second round of financing. The initial funding of 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million) came from angel investors, and funded the opening of the first five shops and development of the website.
• According to WWD, Paris-based Otium Capital has two transactions in the cosmetic and well-being space this year through investments in the Merci Handy hand-wash brand and Let’s Ride cycling studios.

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