US private equity firm Horizon Capital’s USD200 million Emerging Europe Growth Fund III has acquired a minority stake in European e-commerce beauty company MAKEUP, thereby becoming its main financial investor.
US private equity firm Horizon Capital’s USD200 million Emerging Europe Growth Fund III has acquired a minority stake in European e-commerce beauty company MAKEUP, thereby becoming its main financial investor.
MAKEUP is currently active in 14 markets including Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
The online beauty platform intends to expand its operations to new markets in the EU, such as France, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Benelux, and Balkans – accelerating its pan-European expansion in 2020.
“We are delighted to contribute our capital and expertise to support MAKEUP’s ambitious market expansion and growth plans to expand throughout Europe from fourteen countries today,” said Lenna Koszarny, Horizon Capital’s founding partner and CEO.
In 2019 MAKEUP’s sites attracted close to 200 million visits, increasing 75 percent year-on-year, and becoming one of the top-20 global online beauty e-commerce platforms, according to the company.
Founded in 2009, MAKEUP now works with over 2,000 suppliers. “Though these are unprecedented times globally, Horizon Capital intends to invest over USD 100 million in new deals, backed by US and European institutions with over USD 350 billion in capital, that also seek to co-invest alongside us in fast-growing, exciting opportunities in our region,” added Koszarny.
