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'K-Beauty' startup 6Pence announced on the 6th that it has secured a seed investment of 2 billion won. The investment was led by Kakao Ventures, with Amorepacific and K2 Investment participating jointly.
Instead of the traditional seeding method of simply providing products free of charge to influencers, 6Pence is verifying market response by utilizing affiliate marketing that pays commissions based on actual sales performance. Through this approach, the company secures real sales data such as conversion rates and repurchase rates, immediately reflecting them in product refinement and brand strategy. Focusing on its LINE product 'Melt Halo', Hyeon Jae (CEO) is confirming initial market response while expanding its product lineup.
The leader of the company, Hong Jin-seok (CEO), began at LG Household & Health Care, oversaw marketing and domestic e-commerce at Mediheal, and served as CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) and head of global B2C (business-to-consumer) channels at Round Lab, famous for its birch water sunscreen cream. As an expert who has led K-beauty brand planning and global business expansion, Hong Jin-seok (CEO) has brought together key personnel who have worked closely with Hong (CEO), along with marketers from Lala Sweet and managers from Quten, building an organization that covers everything from brand planning to global e-commerce operations.
Over the past decade, Hong (CEO) has experienced multiple shifts in distribution channels and market environments in Korea, China, and the U.S., executing strategies for brand establishment and growth. Based on this experience, the company plans to expand growth opportunities not only in countries where K-beauty entry is still in its early stages but also in existing major export markets.
In fact, 6Pence differentiates itself by stating that unlike the typical growth model of first validating a brand domestically before expanding overseas, it has designed its brand with global markets as the goal from the very beginning of its founding and is conducting business centered on talent with experience in operating overseas channels.
6Pence plans to utilize this investment to strengthen brand competitiveness and expand global marketing. In particular, it aims to accelerate its entry into overseas markets by actively leveraging social selling and affiliate channels, and will gradually pursue open innovation collaboration with Amorepacific, which participated as a strategic investor.
Ahn Hye-won, Senior Analyst at Kakao Ventures, commented on the background of this investment: "It is rare to find a team that has experienced both large-scale beauty companies and indie brands while leading product planning and global channel growth." She added, "We highly evaluated 6Pence's approach and execution ability to quickly verify market response through influencer channels and connect it to product refinement."
Meanwhile, K-beauty cosmetics exports reached approximately 4.68 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, a 19% increase compared to the same period last year, marking the highest quarterly figure on record. The global K-beauty market size was recorded at approximately 11.8 billion dollars (about 16.7807 trillion won) last year and is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 6–10% in the future.
[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]
in FUTURE
