• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechConnected Logistics

How This Korean Beauty Startup Uses Data to Keep Up With Trends

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 10, 2016, 3:22 PM ET
Courtesy of Memebox

With Dollar Shave Club’s recent $1 billion sale to Unilever and Wal-Mart’s $3 billion acquisition of Amazon competitor Jet.com, e-commerce is looking both well and dangerous.

But Memebox—pronounced “me-me box” not “meme box,” according to its website—an online seller of Korean beauty products, is hoping for the former and taking its chances with the recent close of $65.95 million in new funding.

Much of Memebox’s confidence comes from its approach to choosing and developing products to sell. “We have tens of millions of data points about what customers want,” Memebox USA president Arnold Hur tells Fortune.

Using data it collects from customer sales and feedback, Memebox says it can keep its finger on the pulse of customers and keep its catalog filled with the latest trends.

Sheet masks, for example, is one such trend onto which Memebox has latched. The thin fabric face masks soaked with lotions and serums first began to get some attention in Asia two years ago, but they really exploded in popularity all over the world in the past year, according to Hur. Along with stocking a wide variety of these masks, Memebox also produces its own as part of its in-house brands.

Of course, not every product in Memebox’s catalog has been a hit, Hur admits, though he says that a majority of products have sold through.

“The rate of mistakes can be lowered if you have data and technology helping you get there,” Hur explains.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Creating its own brands and products is another way the company hopes to differentiate its products as it rides the current trend of Korean cosmetics. In the past year, it has released its first four lines of products and with plans for two more by the end of the year.

To keep its customers coming back for more, Memebox believes in a having a fast product development cycle. Many of the company’s products have been developed in no more than six months, and some in as little as two to four months. In contrast, beauty companies typically take 12 to 18 months, according to Memebox.

One of its in-house brands is Pony Effect, a collaboration with Korean beauty blogger Park Hye Min, also known as Pony Makeup, who has 1.58 million subscribers on YouTube and 2.4 million followers on Instagram. The line of products sold 20,000 units within the first four to five minutes it was available for sale on Memebox, says Hur.

Recently, a number of so-called YouTube makeup gurus have teamed up with cosmetics companies to design and market their own branded products. These deals let the social media stars cash in on their popularity by getting a cut of the sales, while the makeup companies use their fame to sell products, knowing that fans will flock to purchase them.

Memebox leans heavily on social media and digital marketing to establish its brand and attract customers. Today, the company’s videos have garnered more than 70 million views, and more than three-quarters of its sales are done on mobile devices, both through its app and via its website.

Founded in Korea in 2012, Memebox got its start by selling subscriptions to boxes of Korean cosmetics, similarly to Birchbox and Ipsy. However, it quickly did away with the business and switched to being an online reseller of beauty products.

“We grew so quickly that we couldn’t necessarily get the free products we needed,” says Hur of the box model, which requires that these subscription companies obtain free products from beauty companies for the promise of giving them exposure to their customers.

In hindsight, the box model has led to varying success for other companies. While Ipsy (co-founded by YouTube star Michelle Phan) raised $100 million last fall and said it was profitable, Birchbox recently raised $15 million from existing investors to help tide it over as it recovers from layoffs and reported scaling back of its plans to open new stores.

Today, Memebox still sells themed boxes of products, but they only represent about 1% or 2% of the company’s sales, according to Hur. It currently projects $150 million in annual run rate, which is calculated by taking a company’s sales during a particular month or quarter and extrapolating for a full year.

Memebox’s latest funding round was led by Formation Group along with Goodwater Capital and Pejman Mar Ventures. To date, the company has raised $95 million in funding and participated in the startup accelerator program Y Combinator in 2014.

But Memebox doesn’t want to remain an online-only company. It recently opened its first retail store in Korea, where it makes almost $1,100 in sales per square foot, according to Hur. It plans to expand further into retail stores, though Hur declined to share more details. It also plans to continue expanding in China, one of its three markets, and to grow its San Francisco-based team from 60 to 120 by the end of next year.

However, don’t expect to see the company expand into product lines for men anytime soon. Hur quips, “One challenge at a time.”

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Future of WorkBrainstorm Design
The workplace needs to be designed like an ‘experience,’ says Gensler’s Ray Yuen, as employees resist the return to office
By Angelica AngDecember 5, 2025
2 hours ago
Four years ago, BKV started buying up the two Temple power plants in Texas—located between Austin and Dallas—which now total 1.5 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity—enough to power more than 1.1 million homes, or a major data center campus. There is room to expand.
Energypower
How a Texas gas producer plans to exploit the ‘mega trend’ of power plants for AI hyperscalers
By Jordan BlumDecember 5, 2025
2 hours ago
Big TechSpotify
Spotify users lamented Wrapped in 2024. This year, the company brought back an old favorite and made it less about AI
By Dave Lozo and Morning BrewDecember 4, 2025
13 hours ago
InnovationVenture Capital
This Khosla Ventures–backed startup is using AI to personalize cancer care
By Allie GarfinkleDecember 4, 2025
17 hours ago
AIEye on AI
Companies are increasingly falling victim to AI impersonation scams. This startup just raised $28M to stop deepfakes in real time
By Sharon GoldmanDecember 4, 2025
17 hours ago
Jensen Huang
SuccessBillionaires
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he works 7 days a week, including holidays, in a constant ‘state of anxiety’ out of fear of going bankrupt
By Jessica CoacciDecember 4, 2025
18 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Two months into the new fiscal year and the U.S. government is already spending more than $10 billion a week servicing national debt
By Eleanor PringleDecember 4, 2025
23 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
‘Godfather of AI’ says Bill Gates and Elon Musk are right about the future of work—but he predicts mass unemployment is on its way
By Preston ForeDecember 4, 2025
18 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he works 7 days a week, including holidays, in a constant 'state of anxiety' out of fear of going bankrupt
By Jessica CoacciDecember 4, 2025
18 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Nearly 4 million new manufacturing jobs are coming to America as boomers retire—but it's the one trade job Gen Z doesn't want
By Emma BurleighDecember 4, 2025
19 hours ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combating homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Health
Bill Gates decries ‘significant reversal in child deaths’ as nearly 5 million kids will die before they turn 5 this year
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 4, 2025
1 day ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.