HwaHae aims to be Asia's top cosmetics resource

Birdview (HwaHae in Korean), a cosmetics and beauty focused startup in Seoul recently announced that they have around $600k from Bon Angels Venture Partners of Korea and Cyber Agent Ventures of Japan.

Birdview was founded by three High school alumni, Woong Lee (CEO), Yong-jin Kim (CPO), and Woo-hyun Chang (CMO) during their college years. The company has developed a mobile app ‘Hwa-Hae’ (meaning reconciliation in Korean) which provides cosmetic brand information, precisely analyzes the ingredients of each product, and offers customized reviews to its users.

To date, ‘Hwa-Hae’ has reached 800 thousand downloads, maintaining the top spot in the cosmetics category in Korea, for the whole of 2014. Birdview is currently updating their iOS version, and are planning to go global with the service starting next year.  The investment from CyberAgent Ventures, who have a large network and experience in Asia will be a critical asset in their Asia expansion plans, according to a representative from Birdview.

CEO Lee added, “We will solidify our position as the number 1 cosmetics information platform in Korea by recruiting talented members and expanding service value, as our short term goal. We aim to grow the service to be utilized by over 25 million Asian ladies in their 20s and 30s.”

Seok-Heun Kang, a Bon Angels representative explained: “Their customer-approach strategy of analyzing ingredients is outstanding, and their power of execution is also great. We plan to actively support joint investment with other VCs if necessary, as we have done to support their Asia expansion with Cyber Agent.”