Sociolla nets $40m in series D round led by EV Growth, Temasek

Indonesia-based Social Bella, the owner of online beauty products marketplace Sociolla, has bagged US$40 million in a series D round led by East Ventures’ EV Growth and Singapore government-owned Temasek.

New investors include global fund EDBI, US-based Pavilion Capital, and Singapore’s Jungle Ventures.

Photo credit: Sociolla

Founded in 2014, Social Bella has business units in the commerce (Sociolla), media (Soco and Beauty Journal), and brand development sectors.

It plans to use the funding to recruit talent and further develop its community platform, Social Connect or Soco, which was first announced last year when the startup secured US$12 million in a fundraise that was also led by EV Growth.

The company also expects to grow its user base of 20.2 million unique visitors. “With this round of funding, we expect to reach more audiences with 100 million (unique) users visiting our integrated ecosystem – Soco, Sociolla.com, and Beauty Journal – by 2021,” said Social Bella co-founder and president Christopher Madiam.

Through Soco, users can share their experiences with different beauty products through articles, videos, and product reviews. They can also follow and consume content from influencers.

Soco also operates as a database that stores relevant information from consumers’ profiles and transactions which businesses can use to provide a better experience.

In March, co-founder and CEO John Rasjid revealed that Social Bella’s gross merchandise value grew 7x between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019, with an aim to reach at least 4x year on year for 2019. He credited the growth to the company’s new strategies, including its push into content with Soco.