HONG KONG, Oct. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In a major development for China’s cosmetic industry, CHANDO Group, a leading homegrown cosmetics brand, has completed a new round of financing. Harvest Capital has invested ¥300 million (over US$40 million) in this round, with global beauty giant L’Oréal also participating as an industrial partner. This historic collaboration signals the beginning of a new chapter for CHANDO Group, as it joins forces with well-known consumer funds and international industry leaders to propel the company toward high-quality, sustainable growth.
Two Decades of Beauty Leadership: Building a Multi-Brand, Full Supply Chain, and Digitally-Driven Enterprise
Founded in 2001, CHANDO Group has consistently adhered to its brand philosophy, “Beautiful, as you are.” dedicating itself to providing consumers worldwide with affordable, high-quality products for beauty and healthy living. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, as of 2024, CHANDO is the third-largest Chinese cosmetics group by retail sales. Its flagship brand, CHANDO, has ranked among the top two Chinese beauty brands by retail sales every year from 2013 to 2024, showcasing the company’s resilience across industry cycles.
Over the past two decades, CHANDO Group has evolved into a comprehensive enterprise that encompasses independent raw material sourcing, R&D, and manufacturing, with a fully integrated digital operating system and efficient direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels. Leveraging its robust capabilities, the company has expanded its portfolio to include multiple brands, such as CHANDO, Perfection Research, Chunxia, Meisu, and Jichu, covering a wide range of product categories including skincare, cosmetics, personal care, men’s grooming, and baby care.
Technology-Driven Beauty Innovation: Consistent Breakthroughs in R&D
In a highly competitive China beauty market, CHANDO Group has remained a frontrunner by relentlessly driving brand innovation through technology. The company is committed to meeting consumers’ demand for products that deliver both efficacy and beauty. Amidst the rise of countless “internet celebrity” brands, CHANDO’s enduring market leadership is due to its unwavering focus on long-term strategy, putting consumers at the center, and continuously investing in core business elements that create differentiated consumer experiences.
Nowadays, CHANDO has a team of 154 highly skilled researchers with expertise in fields like life sciences, material sciences, and applied chemistry. The company has also formed strategic partnerships with renowned medical institutions, including Huashan Hospital and the National Children’s Medical Center (Fudan University Children’s Hospital).
Since 2013, CHANDO has been at the forefront of microbial fermentation research, with independent research centers in locations such as Shanghai and Nyingchi, Tibet. The company has successfully developed several proprietary core ingredients, including “Ximoin,” “Blue Copper Peptide,” and “Space Ginseng Yeast,” making it the first Chinese cosmetics company to hold independent intellectual property rights in yeast-based ingredients. In partnership with China’s aerospace program, CHANDO is also exploring skincare challenges in space environments, further pushing the boundaries of skincare science.
Digital Transformation: Leading Industry Innovation
In addition to its innovation in R&D, CHANDO Group’s sustained success is also attributed to its forward-thinking approach to industry transformation. Not satisfied with merely being a leader in offline beauty retail, the company launched its digital transformation strategy in 2019. With a “digital-driven decision-making” philosophy, CHANDO has worked to build a consumer-centric, agile, and continuously evolving organization. The company was among the first in the cosmetics industry to implement advanced digital management tools, such as “Unified Inventory” and “Cloud Stores”, setting new benchmarks for the industry.
CHANDO’s digital strategy has enabled the company to establish an end-to-end digital business operation, including supply chain management, inventory control, production management, sales and marketing, logistics, and consumer data analysis. This comprehensive digital framework has significantly improved operational efficiency and decision-making quality, enhancing the company’s overall performance.
Harvest Capital’s Deep Involvement: Boosting Quality and Efficiency
Harvest Capital strongly aligns with CHANDO Group’s development strategy, which focuses on “cultivating lifetime consumer value” and “driven by digitalization and technology.” The firm values the company’s solid R&D capabilities and admires the founder’s entrepreneurial spirit, which emphasizes focus, continuous innovation, and organizational evolution. Since 2021, Harvest Capital has conducted in-depth research on CHANDO Group, assembling a team of professionals from various fields—including business, finance, and legal experts—to provide strategic planning, comprehensive budget management, and organizational support.
Focused on improving operational efficiency, Harvest Capital has helped CHANDO establish a comprehensive budgeting system centered around ROE (return on equity). The team participates in monthly business review meetings, collaborating with internal teams to identify areas for improvement. Additionally, Harvest Capital has helped the company optimize its DTC channel investments and growth, incorporating advanced industry methodologies and best practices to improve data quality and enhance marketing efficiency. Notably, while continuing to expand its offline retail presence, CHANDO has successfully developed an effective DTC channel, with online sales now accounting for 68.8% of its revenue. The brand has performed particularly well in the rapidly growing content e-commerce sector.
In 2023, based on its deep understanding of the industry and CHANDO Group, Harvest Capital provided comprehensive recommendations for the company’s five-year strategic plan. These insights were well-received by CHANDO’s management and have helped shape a clear roadmap for the company’s high-quality development. Moving forward, Harvest Capital will continue to support CHANDO’s listing and further growth, leveraging its post-investment support systems and extensive resources in the consumer sector.
A Shared Vision for the Future: Building a World-Leading Beauty Group
According to CBNData, China beauty brands accounted for about 55.2% of the market share in 2024, securing a dominant position. However, the market concentration of the top five brands remains in the single digits, a stark contrast to the maturity of mature markets. This signals that the industry is entering a crucial stage, transitioning from a “mass rise” to “leader concentration.” In this transition, industry leaders with core technologies, full supply chain advantages, and digital capabilities will play a key role in market consolidation. Harvest Capital firmly believes that as beauty brands grow stronger, China will soon produce world-class beauty groups.
Despite macroeconomic pressures, the underlying demand for beauty and self-care remains strong and stable. For the mass market, rational consumption is becoming the norm, and consumers are increasingly seeking “high-quality, affordable” products. Brands that can deeply understand consumer needs, drive supply with demand, and consistently create value for consumers by offering high-quality products will emerge as the winners in any economic cycle. With over two decades of industry experience and a strong digital transformation advantage, CHANDO Group is well-positioned to lead this trend.
This collaboration is a strategic alignment based on a shared long-term vision: to build a leading beauty brand and establish a world-class enterprise. It also represents Harvest Capital’s commitment to supporting China’s consumption sector and empowering national brands.
As Harvest Capital’s founding partner and chairman, Alan Song Xiangqian, stated, “Consumption is the stabilizer and ballast of China’s economy. We remain confident in the long-term growth potential of beauty brands and are committed to supporting Chinese companies like CHANDO, which are driven by technology, digitalization, and long-term vision, to become world-class national brands.”