Australian beauty subscription service, Bellabox has secured more than AU$3 million in funding from digital publishing company, Allure Media, a subsidiary of Fairfax Media.
The funding is expected to assist the beauty sampling business expand its service to members and brand partners through further customisation, improved targeting, and more sophisticated market research.
Jason Scott, CEO of Allure Media, and Guy Reypert, group director of Fairfax Digital Ventures, will take up new board seats as directors of Bellabox, effective immediately.
Bellabox was one of the first subscription boxes to launch in Australia, based on a similar beauty concept in the US, Birchbox.
Founded by sisters Emily and Sarah Hamilton in 2011, Bellabox has accumulated tens of thousands of members across Australia for its $15 monthly delivery service.
Bellabox also operates in Singapore, and has average growth of 13 per cent month on month across its entire operation
Members can then buy the beauty products online through the Bellabox website.
Bellabox, which has more than 500 beauty partners, offers members a small sample size of beauty and lifestyle products each month based on a member’s profile.
There can be up to 30 different versions of boxes sent to customers each month, with some months based on particular themes, such as travel.
Members are surveyed after receiving packages, and are encouraged to share their recommendations online or through social media.
The new deal will allow Bellabox to realise synergies with Allure Media and explore strategic opportunities to broaden its subscription offering and expand the business internationally.
The latest funding will help expand the business more aggressively.
The company has a team of 30 across offices in Melbourne and Singapore. A proportion of the funding will be used to hire more full time staff, especially in management positions as the business gears up for its next stage of growth.
This will also allow the company to explore opportunities to launch into new markets, primarily in Asia Pacific, and to evaluate the potential of launching subscription services targeting other customer segments.
In preparation for its expansion, Bellabox has already made a significant investment in IT, designing a flexible and scalable platform to cope with a large influx of members across multiple countries.
This latest funding will see further investment in technology to scale and maximise the potential of Bellabox’s e-commerce platform, both to improve the customer experience and provide better intelligence and tools to BellaBox’s brand partners.
On the customer side, Bellabox will improve the online customer experience through better functionality, discovery tools, and customer support.
Sarah Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Bellabox, said: “We’re extremely excited to be working with Allure Media. This strategic partnership has come at the right time as we ramp up our expansion and take Bellabox to the next level.
“Our original investors have been invaluable in providing us with both focus and opportunity, which was integral to our success to date, and we look forward to continuing this journey with them and Allure Media,” Hamilton said.
Bellabox received funding in January 2013 from a syndicate of tech, beauty, logistics, and financial investors in Sydney and Melbourne, led by current investors, Yes To Carrots co-founder, Lance Kalish; and Trevor Folsom of Elevation Capital and including Square Peg Capital.
