Transcosmos Investments & Business Development, a strategic corporate investor and an active local business partner for US internet technology companies expanding into the Japan and Asia marketplaces, has co-invested with Gree Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Japan-based mobile social company Gree, in a series B round of funding worth a reported $10m for online cosmetics retailer Luxola.
E-commerce and online beauty product sites are increasingly seeing year-on-year growth in Asia, and subsequent funding from strategic corporate investors and venture capital firms is backing this up. Luxola has attracted additional funds from Gree Ventures only months after it invested a reported $2m in the cosmetics company’s series A round.
According to Techinasia, Transcosmos will, in addition to providing capital, offer Luxola its e-commerce services in 31 countries around the world, an added incentive for the company, which is already shipping to nearby Malaysia. Luxola aims to set itself apart from Asia-based competitors such as Sasa.com and La Luche, by providing the largest online beauty store in Southeast Asia by product selection.
The capital raised in the series B round will be allocated to expand Luxola’s range of products, regional warehouse and operational capacity, and improve customer experience on web and mobile. It will also seek to bring in cosmetic and well-being editorial to the mix ithrough a beauty advice section called Lxedit.
Luxola raised $740,000 in seed funding from WaveMaker Labs, Singapore’s National Research Foundation, and angel investors prior to Gree Ventures’ initial investment in 2013. Its initial angel round raised S$525,000 (US$423,000).