Clozette sees success in Indonesia, looks to attract Japanese culture fans

Clozette, which now defines itself as a social content marketing company, has secured US$10 million in Series C funding after seeing its revenue grow by over 140%. Its subsidiary in Indonesia was said to see grow by 200% over last year. Part of the investment will go towards building an interactive "Cool Japan Ecosystem"  to attract a new generation of Japanese culture fans. The funds come from Cool Japan Fund, which seeks to leverage Clozette's storytelling capabilities and network of talents to create a multi-lingual ecosystem that enables the discovery of actionable and shoppable “cool” content about Japan. It is set to launch in June 2019. Clozette will also be using the investment to scale the company’s proprietary data-driven content and analytics platform. Additionally, the specialist in original and curated user-generated content targeting at contemporary women will be expanding its presence in new markets, beginning with Thailand. CEO of Clozette Roger Yuen said that the injection of funding "solidly validates" the company's vision of authentic content marketing taking centre stage. He added, "Content is king – consumers today are blocking ads but consuming content at unprecedented rates on their platform of choice. In the same breath, they demand more authenticity, interactivity and mobility in their experience." Founded in 2010, Clozette has worked with more than 300 brands and media agencies including Estee Lauder, Shiseido, Amore Pacific, Zalora, Charles & Keith, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Beiersdorf, GroupM, IPG Mediabrands, and Omnicom Media Group. It currently has over 90 employees operating in Southeast Asia and Japan. “We are impressed by Clozette’s management team of digital veterans and entrepreneurs, and excited to work with them as the company accelerates the transformation of digital and traditional marketing in Asia and beyond,” said Yuji Kato, COO and CIO of Cool Japan Fund. Cool Japan Fund is a public-private fund under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan that provides risk capital for businesses with the aim of commercialising the “Cool Japan” concept. Read more: Clozette rallies shoppers for Breast Cancer Awareness month Brand New Media and Clozette launch a fashion channel Clozette pushes into TV business Clozette Set To Lure Indonesian Women