K-beauty brand aggregator B2Link acquires skincare app Picky

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jan 4, 2022

Korean beauty aggregator B2Link announced on Monday it has acquired skincare community app, Picky, as the Seoul-based company looks to bolster is global lineup of beauty brands. 

Founded in 2020 by Jihong Lee, Picky is a mobile-first community that enables consumers to discover the best skincare and beauty brands and products through user reviews, educational content, and experts’ contributions.

In 2021, the beauty app ​established a community base of more than 250,000 global users. With the takeover, U.S.-incorporated Picky looks to leverage B2Link’s network and resources to further expand its strong community base and global reach.

Founder Lee will also join B2Link as chief marketing officer and board member. The takeover deal is set to close by end of January, 2022.

​“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 skincare community,” said 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 is a consumer brand aggregator and global Korean beauty B2B distribution company providing experience-based sales and marketing consultation. Since its debut, it has worked with 150 Korean cosmetics brands and 80+ online and offline distribution channels worldwide, growing its portfolio into seven brands in total to surpass $30 million annual recurring revenue in 2021.

Its flagship brand, Skin1004, is expected to post $25 million revenue in 2021.

"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,” said Nate Sohyung Lee, B2Link’s co-founder and CEO.

“We’re helping K-Beauty products become much more accessible in more markets through our deep experience in the retail business and world-class global marketing team. With the Picky acquisition, we’ve strengthened our team and firmly established our No. 1 market position in Korea.”