Retail in Asia

Featured

L’Oréal invests in Japanese personalized beauty start-up SPARTY

L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund, Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development (BOLD), made its first venture capital investment in Japan, a minority investment in Japanese cosmetics company SPARTY, Inc.

SEE ALSO : China set to become L’Oréal’s largest market

Sparty, based in Tokyo, has developed a customised beauty-focused direct-to-consumer business model. Medulla, a haircare brand that began in 2018 and offers individualized “prescriptions” to customers, and Hotaru Personalized, a skincare brand that launched in 2020 and offers personalized skin diagnoses, are two of the company’s products. Medulla and Hotaru user IDs are linked, allowing Sparty to collect data on Hotaru diagnosis results as well as the consumer’s satisfaction with their Medulla prescription, further personalizing the experience.

“Japan is one of the most sophisticated and influential beauty markets. In Japan, personalized consumer experience is highly valued, and we are seeing new trends and innovations when it comes to personalization, especially in beauty. We are thrilled to be partnering with SPARTY, a pioneer in personalized beauty as well as a game changer within Japan’s growing D2C market,” said Jean-Pierre Charriton, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal Japan.

SEE ALSO : L’Oreal to acquire fragrance maker Byredo

“With SPARTY’s proven track record in personalization and L’Oréal’s leadership in the worldwide beauty market, we are confident that we will be able to embark on the next chapter of our growth journey and scale our business even further, both in Japan and overseas, to the fullest potential,” said Yosuke Miyama, Founder and CEO of SPARTY Inc.