The long reign of K-beauty’s old guard — Amorepacific, LG Household & Health Care and Aekyung Industrial — no longer holds in today’s context.
In their place, a new trio has emerged: APR, d’Alba Global and Goodai Global. All are steered by male CEOs born in the 1980s, each pursuing distinct strategies but all pushing toward the same global spotlight.
APR
- Founded in 2014, APR owns beauty and wellness brands, including Medicube, Aprilskin, Forment and Glam.D, with Medicube best known for its hit beauty tools.
- Founder: Kim Byung-hoon, 36. His flair for viral marketing and device innovation since 2021 has propelled APR’s rise.
- Revenue climbed from around 100 billion won ($72 million) in 2018 to more than 700 billion won last year. Medicube generated 312.6 billion won in device sales last year, up 44.6 percent.
- In the second quarter, overseas revenue made up 78 percent of APR’s total, with the US at 29 percent, overtaking Korea as its largest market.
- APR debuted on the nation’s main bourse, Kospi, in February 2024, reaching a market cap of 2.4 trillion won on its first day of trading.
- As of August, APR is Korea’s largest beauty company, with a market capitalization of 8.5 trillion won, higher than Amorepacific at 7 trillion won and LG H&H at 4.6 trillion won.
D’Alba Global
- Founded in 2016, d’Alba Global operates its vegan skincare line d’Alba and health supplement brand Veganery, and made its mark with a white truffle-infused mist.
- Founder: Ban Seong-yeon, 43, a former strategy consultant who advised legacy beauty firms on entering the Chinese market.
- Last year, d’Alba’s revenue climbed 54 percent to 309.1 billion won, while operating profit surged 84 percent to 59.8 billion won.
- In the second quarter, revenue rose 74 percent to 128.4 billion won, and operating profit rose 66 percent to 29.2 billion won, with mists making up 42 percent of sales, sun care 27 percent.
- Newly listed in May, the company is valued at over 2.2 trillion won as of August, putting it on par with Cosmax, the nation’s leading cosmetics contract manufacturer, at 2.4 trillion won.
- Its share price climbed to a record 247,500 won from its IPO price of 66,300 won, before edging down to close at around 180,000 won on Friday.
Goodai Global
- Founded in 2016, Goodai Global has pursued a roll-up strategy that has drawn comparisons to L’Oreal’s playbook.
- Founder: Cheun Ju-hyuk, 37, established the company as a distributor but formally entered beauty in 2019 with the acquisition of Beauty of Joseon.
- Goodai owns Beauty of Joseon, iUNIK, House of Hur, Tirtir and Skin1004. Deals for Seorin Company and Skinfood are in their final stages. Goodai sold off Laka, acquired only last June, for about 53 billion won.
- The company’s reported revenue jumped 132 percent to 323.7 billion won last year, rising to over 1 trillion won when sales from its acquired brands are included.
- It recently raised 800 billion won in convertible bonds as it targets an IPO within three years. Market estimates suggest its IPO could value the firm at 10 trillion won.
