Southeast Asian Beauty Brand Y.O.U Raises $40 Million in Series C, Leading Emerging Market Beauty Industry

On February 16, 2022, Y.O.U, a leading Southeast Asian beauty brand, announced the completion of its $40 million Series C funding round, led by Hidden Hill Capital, with participation from SIG, Gaorong Ventures, ATM Capital, eWTP Arabia Capital, and M31 Capital, among others. Gaorong Ventures had previously led the company's Series B round in March 2021. To date, Y.O.U has raised a total of $70 million.

The proceeds from this round will primarily fund Y.O.U's expansion of retail channels in overseas emerging markets, R&D investment, global supply chain buildout, and team talent acquisition and upgrades — further cementing the brand's position as a leader in Southeast Asia's beauty industry.

Omnichannel Presence Across Southeast Asia, Leveraging China's Beauty Supply Chain for Product Development

Y.O.U is an integrated color cosmetics and skincare brand in Southeast Asia. Since launching in Indonesia at the end of 2018, it has expanded to the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and other markets, covering nearly 40,000 points of sale. The company adheres to an innovative skincare philosophy called the "Skin Addition-Subtraction Method," carefully selecting advanced, safe, and effective ingredients from around the world and infusing them with natural botanical extracts to perfectly embody "1+1>2" — helping modern women address skin concerns at a deeper level from the inside out. Tailored to Indonesian skin characteristics, Y.O.U has introduced locally developed product lines including skin-nourishing base makeup and anti-aging serums that combine care and cosmetics.

Y.O.U's founding team hails from the OPPO ecosystem, bringing extensive experience in full-chain retail and beauty across Southeast Asia, with deep roots in local markets for many years. The founders noted, "Different countries are at different stages of brand development depending on their economic levels. Compared to high-GDP-per-capita markets like China and the US, Southeast Asian consumers are in a phase of pursuing quality brands, while media decentralization has simultaneously raised user standards and expectations for products. In Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia as the largest single market, relatively high barriers to entry in distribution channels prevent overseas products with competitive advantages from entering quickly — creating an excellent opportunity for a new generation of brands with strong channel capabilities and deep localization."

On the channel front, Y.O.U has built out a comprehensive omnichannel presence spanning beauty specialty stores, department stores, convenience stores, and major e-commerce platforms in just three years. Through initiatives including storefront and counter image upgrades and systematic training for beauty consultants, Y.O.U has gained significant recognition from distributors and retailers, continuously deepening its channel advantages. The brand was named Guardian Best New Brand at Indonesia's Watsons in 2019, and won Guardian's Fastest-Growing Brand award for two consecutive years; in 2020, it became the only brand to top both color cosmetics and skincare rankings on Southeast Asian e-commerce giant Shopee; and was subsequently selected by Indonesian premium women's fashion media outlet Wolipop as one of the top ten most popular local beauty and skincare brands of 2021.

Y.O.U counter in Manila, Philippines

On product development, Y.O.U leverages China's mature beauty supply chain, giving it substantial advantages in product quality, iteration speed, and cost. More importantly, Y.O.U consistently starts from consumer needs, insisting on creating products suited to local skin characteristics. Its star product, an anti-aging serum, won Indonesia's Most Popular Anti-Aging Serum at the 2021 HTC Consumer Goods Research awards, and that same year set a new record for brand livestream sales on Indonesian TikTok during the 12.12 shopping festival. Multiple product lines also received Tokopedia's 2021 Beauty Awards — Tokopedia being one of Indonesia's largest e-commerce platforms.

Y.O.U Noutriwear Skin-Nourishing Base Makeup Series

Y.O.U Golden Age Anti-Aging Skincare Series

Activating the Beauty Industry in Emerging Markets, Driving Industrial Upgrade

As the "looks economy" becomes increasingly essential, the beauty market has entered an upward cycle. Emerging markets exceed 100 billion RMB in size, with countries like Malaysia and Indonesia projected to see near-10% annualized growth over the next five years. Global market research firm Mintel disclosed in its latest trend report that Southeast Asia has been designated a "future market" for priority development in the global cosmetics industry, with its market size expected to exceed $300 billion by 2025, and growth potential of over 120% in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Activating the comprehensive development of the beauty industry in emerging markets and achieving industrial upgrade will be Y.O.U's next objectives.

Xiaoyu Ma, Managing Director at Gaorong Ventures, commented: "The global beauty market continues to grow, and emerging markets like Southeast Asian countries are showing tremendous potential in particular. Y.O.U deeply understands Southeast Asian culture, creating localized products that users love, and leverages China's mature supply chain system. With offline channels as its entry point, supplemented by multi-channel operational methods and localized service teams, it has quickly captured consumer mindshare and gradually grown into an industry-leading brand. Gaorong Ventures was among Y.O.U's earliest core supporters. We have strong conviction in the team's powerful localization capabilities, deep consumer insights, and rapid productization abilities, and believe that Y.O.U can continue its pioneering spirit and gradually develop into a world-class beauty brand."