Brazilian beauty tech B4A (Beauty for All) announced a $6 million (around BRL 30 million) Series A round led by private equity fund DXA and followed by AcNext, which led the previous BRL 10 million round raised just nine months earlier.
Founded in 2017 by Jan Riehle, B4A has built a business model that connects consumers, influencers, and beauty brands. Through B4A platforms, consumers can interact with brands, try new products, and get personalized recommendations. In addition, B4A works with a model similar to Amazon Prime, in which the consumer subscribes to a monthly plan to access exclusive promotions and other benefits (like the Glam Box, with selected products delivered to the consumer’s home).
For brands, B4A has launched the B4A Connect platform, which offers services such as targeted sending of products for trial with qualified consumers; creation and distribution of expert content on websites and social networks; and data analysis to define sales strategies.
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B4A’s vision is to be a complete solution for brands, which can also offer their products on B4A’s own marketplaces, Glambox and Mensmarket. Integrated with them, the Influencer Connect feature connects brands to more than 2,000 influencers to promote products and sales. According to B4A, the solution is used by more than 200 brands, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Natura, Nivea, and Boticário.
In addition to services for client brands, B4A also has its own brands: Glam Beauty, a women’s skincare line; Malmo, a men’s fashion brand; and Men’s, the largest cosmetics brand focused on products for men.
B4A said it had doubled its revenue in 2021 when compared to 2020, with a run rate of more than BRL 75 million. Now, with the new investment, the startup plans to invest in the technology that makes its platforms run, especially the B4A Connect platform.
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For this year, the company’s goal is to double revenue and improve the digital experience. “The beauty e-commerce market is extremely competitive, but we believe we have competitive advantages through our strategies of the gamified shopping experience, providing content, using machine-learning to offer a product match, and our social-selling strategies, especially working with micro-and nano-influencers,” added Riehle.
The startup also has a Series B round on its radar and plans to begin talks later this year, with the goal of consolidating a larger number of direct-to-consumer brands on the platform.
