LVMH, L’Oréal Ventures Invest in Replika
The Series A funding will help Replika expand its global footprint of brands and industries.
PARIS — LVMH Luxury Ventures and L’Oréal BOLD Ventures have financed a Series A round of funding for Replika Software, a social commerce platform.
The investment is expected to help the company expand its global footprint of brands and industries.
Social commerce involves using social media to tap into communities and promote and sell products and services. It is a trend already popular in Asia. There, e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Little Red Book have been integrating user-generated content to great success, for instance.
“The Series A financing builds on an exceptional year for Replika. We were able to rapidly grow a roster of clients across several verticals, introducing important programming and feature upgrades while solidifying our management team with key executive appointments,” said Corey Gottlieb, cofounder of Replika Gottlieb, in a statement. “We believe this funding will help us shift the current online selling paradigm, not only in the fashion and beauty industries, but in the broader health care, entertainment, travel and electronic industries, as well.”
“When we founded Replika, we envisioned a feature where every brand would be able to benefit from the power of social selling,” continued Kareen Mallet, cofounder of Replika Software. “After concluding commercial arrangements with several maisons of LVMH and brands of L’Oréal, it is tremendously satisfying to see that the investment arms of two of the world’s most forward-thinking companies have decided to invest in our vision.”
In 2019, LVMH selected Replika to be highlighted at the Vivatech Innovation Awards in Paris. Then LVMH asked Replika to be a part of its accelerator, La Maison des Startups, at the Station F start-up campus. Now, LVMH and Replika work together in Europe and the U.S.
L’Oréal’s chief digital officer Lubomira Rochet homed in on Replika at Vivatech and has been deploying the brand throughout the group’s divisions.
L’Oréal in early December said it had taken a minority stake in Replika Software Inc.