Korean beauty distributor B2Link Corporation has acquired skin care community app Picky Inc.
B2Link claims to find "undervalued local brands" to scale into international markets.
The Seoul-based company's latest acquisition, Picky, enables users to discover products and brands through user reviews, educational contents and experts' contributions.
In 2021, Picky reported 250,000 users of the platform. The US-incorporated company stated that the deal with B2Link will bolster its brand and consumer outreach.
Picky founder and CEO Jihong Lee will join B2LiNK as Chief Marketing Officer and board member.
“In what has been a challenging time for startups worldwide, we’re proud to have gained an avid following of hundreds of thousands of regular users in our skin care community,” said Jihong Lee.
“Our team set our sights on the global marketplace on day one, and the opportunity to keep that momentum going with the resources behind B2Link is the perfect match.”
Founded in 2014, B2Link's current seven-strong portfolio includes flagship brand Skin1004, which is forecasted to post US$25m revenue and $4m profit in 2021.
The company's brand business has grown more than 300% within the past two years, reported B2Link, with 90% of its revenue from outside South Korea.
Nate Sohyung Lee, B2Link’s co-founder and CEO, said: "K-beauty is a global phenomenon.
"There is a seemingly endless pool of unique indie brands relevant for global beauty consumers, and we have access to established distribution channels to meet the demand for K-beauty products everywhere."
The distributor claims to have partnered with more than 150 Korean cosmetics brands and more than 80 online and offline distribution channels worldwide.
