If you comply with #beautytok, #beautytube or any magnificence content material on social media platforms, you understand that widespread product tendencies are exhausting to maintain up with. Summer International stays forward of the sport by figuring out probably the most influential content material creators, and dealing with them to incubate new manufacturers. Founded in Singapore and based mostly in Los Angeles and South Korea, Summer International introduced right now it has raised a $5 million seed spherical from traders together with GDP Ventures, Teja Ventures, Gushcloud International and Singaporean angel traders Koh Boon Hwee and Shirley Crystal Tan.
NYX founder and Bespoke Beauty Brands CEO Toni Ko will even be a part of Summer International as a strategic investor. NYX was acquired by L’Oreal in 2014 for about $500 million.
Summer International co-founder and CEO Xiaoski Kuik mentioned the corporate’s purpose is to create an ecosystem to assist influencers and creators launch and promote magnificence manufacturers utilizing client information and analytics. It operates within the United States, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The firm launched in 2018 together with Gushcloud International, an influencer advertising and marketing agency. Since then, Summer International has incubated manufacturers like skincare line Baby Face with Singaporean influencer Jamie Chua, who has over 1.2 million followers, and wellness manufacturers HANJAN, which launched in April at Coachella and not too long ago struck a partnership with singer Nicole Scherzinger.
Kuik advised TechCrunch that Summer International seems for creators and influencers who’ve a powerful reference to their viewers based mostly on engagement charges, how energetic they’re a video-first platforms and whether or not they have a powerful localized neighborhood and international presence.
“Many times, creators seek us out because of our reach and resources,” she mentioned. “We have our own supply chain and we have the power to distribute brands across Asia via our social commerce and live distribution platforms. Our goal is to establish these top influencers as founders of the next-gen beauty, skincare and wellness brands and to provide them with the access and necessary resources they need to break into the market.”
Other firms that additionally work with creators to launch manufacturers embody Pietra and Forma Brands. Ko mentioned Summer International differentiates by proudly owning its personal distribution community and it additionally has a community of dwell commerce and social commerce distributors, primarily micro influencers based mostly in Southeast Asia.
“It gives us the ability to understand data of what consumers want and would buy and this allows us to collaborate with creators to build brands in a more cost-efficient manner,” Kuik mentioned. Summer International’s dwell commerce distribution community helps it perceive what manufacturers and merchandise shoppers from completely different components of Southeast Asia need to purchase. It additionally supplies information factors like pricing and demographics to create new manufacturers and market them.
Summer International manufacturers are bought via a mixture of digital and offline channels, together with e-commerce platforms, social and dwell commerce platforms and large field shops. They are additionally obtainable on Summer.retailer, the corporate’s proprietary social commerce community.