Yanantang Secures Aptar Group Series A Investment to Advance Eco-Packaging and Digital Transformation

Yanantang, a comprehensive beauty solutions company, has completed a Series A round worth tens of millions of RMB. The investor is Aptar Group, and the capital will primarily support strategic collaboration between the two parties, with the aim of delivering innovative products and services to the skincare market. The company had already closed a pre-A round of tens of millions of RMB in December 2020.

Established in 2016, Yanantang describes itself as a research-driven comprehensive beauty solutions institution. It began as a self-media platform covering skincare, color cosmetics and medical aesthetics, and has since grown into an ecosystem spanning self-media, e-commerce, proprietary brands and a research institute, serving both B2B and B2C users with diversified skin solutions.

Founder Zhao Guoqing told 36Kr that Aptar, a packaging solutions provider, and Yanantang have aligned on an “ingredients + packaging” cooperation model. Their collaboration will cover three areas: content cooperation, data sharing and co-creation of proprietary brands. Following this investment, Yanantang will move toward becoming a digital company.

Starting with educational content, Yanantang has expanded its self-media matrix to platforms including social media and short video, forming a three-tier content system built around “experts + editors.” It has also developed a systematic knowledge-learning framework for the broader skincare and beauty field. In 2017, the company added e-commerce through Yanantang Youxuan Mall and began offering one-on-one skincare consultations via its service account.

Note: The image above illustrates the Yanantang system.

Relying on C-end users, Yanantang has built health profile data on more than 100,000 users, over 300 communities and more than 60,000 private-domain traffic contacts. By operating private-domain traffic through communities and providing professional knowledge and courses, it has created a brand co-creation model with users: some can take part in product development and evaluation, manage communities and brand promotion, and receive a share of sales.

In 2019, Yanantang launched its proprietary brand, Yanzhiyouwu. Using earlier user profile data, broader population surveys, and an R&D model in which engineers join communities to gather rapid user feedback, the brand pursues precise R&D and product co-creation. Yanzhiyouwu currently has about 20 SKUs, mainly functional serums priced at around RMB 200.

Under the Yanantang Skin Management Research Institute, the company has created 50 knowledge-system maps and a training course system of more than 200 sessions. These support Yanantang’s self-media output while also being open to the industry, MCN agencies, beauty bloggers, channel stores and others as training services. In addition, Yanantang’s user data system is available to partner brands for joint new product development. Yanantang now has more than 2 million followers and over 200,000 members across the internet.

Aptar and Yanantang share a common direction on environmental trends. On the self-media side, Yanantang will increase its output on eco-friendly packaging trends. On the e-commerce side, it will launch empty-bottle recycling to build a deeper connection with users. Its proprietary brand Yanzhiyouwu will also test recyclable and degradable packaging materials.

Founder Zhao Guoqing said domestic skincare brands face significant premiums, with most spending going to brand promotion, so a product’s true value is often out of proportion to its actual price—and part of that promotion spending could instead be directed toward environmental protection. Yanantang’s advantage lies in the extensive user data it has accumulated through the private domain; it plans to expand into public-domain traffic as well, creating an interactive public-private domain model and strengthening its platform capabilities. The company will continue to follow the shift from ingredient-focused skincare to joy-based skincare, using functional ingredients as a foundation and developing customized services for segmented scenarios and consumer groups.

On the team side, founder Zhao Guoqing holds an MBA from Fudan University / National University of Singapore and previously worked as an R&D engineer at Unilever, with years of experience in skincare R&D and supply chain.

—This article is republished from China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-377848.html