founded 10 years ago, Konvy is now Thailand’s top beauty e-commerce platform. It plans to accelerate its omnichannel and international distribution with a new $10 million Series A from Insignia Ventures Partners.
Konvy was launched in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneur QingGui Huang, who previously managed fashion e-commerce platforms in China. It now works with over 1,000 brands, representing SKUs over 20,000. Its portfolio of brands includes L’Oréal, Shiseido, Sulwhasoo, Eucerin and La Roche-Posay.
“Konvy had the advantage of starting in Thailand when there were no really major e-commerce players at the time,” Huang told londonbusinessblog.com. “Since then, we have leveraged our first mover advantage in Thailand to become a leading e-commerce player in the market.”
Konvy founders Leon Huang, Pornsuda Vangvidhayakul and QingHui Huang
Konvy’s goal is to help local and international beauty brands capitalize on two key trends. The first is that purchases of health and beauty products are a priority category for Thai consumers and the second is that Thailand has a lot of e-commerce purchases and social media use, which means that young people in Thailand spend on average about two hours and 55 minutes per day. social media.
Huang said he confirmed his assumptions about Thai beauty spending through conversations with brands, which fueled his desire to start Konvy.
“This possibility that health and beauty are a priority spending category for Thai consumers is a function of both supply and demand conditions that have fueled this consumer behavior in recent decades,” he said. “On the supply side, Thailand has been a production center for many international brands for over 40 years. This has led to a thriving local industry. On the demand side, we see Thai consumers hooked up to this mindset of ‘upgrades’ when it comes to health and beauty, that is, it’s not just about accessing such products, but actually looking for the best products and a high willingness to spend on the latest trends.”
Konvy is capitalizing on the high usage of social media by developing a feedback loop, where engagement with the partner brands helps not only Konvy’s existing portfolio, but also more brands in the future. For example, as more Gen Z consumers bought products they saw on TikTok during the pandemic, Konvy made itself more present on that channel.
In a statement, Insignia Ventures Partners founder, managing partner Yinglan Tan, said: “While there may be stronger competitors from horizontal markets going forward, we believe Konvy is best positioned to be the market leader in the online beauty segment. , given its long-standing brand equity, brand-centric and community-led approach.”