Love, Bonito raises US$50MILLION in Series C funding to fuel category and international expansion

• Southeast Asia’s largest omnichannel womenswear brand has its eyes set
  on evolving into a purpose-driven female ecosystem that supports Asian women
  around the world at every life stage
• Fundraising round led by Primavera Capital Group with participation from
  Adastria and Ondine Capital
• The funds will be used to bolster efforts in existing omnichannel
  markets and accelerate high growth international markets including Hong Kong,
  Japan, Philippines and the United States (US)

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 27 October 2021 – Love, Bonito today announced
the close of its Series C funding round, raising a total of US$50Million. The
round was led by Primavera Capital Group,
a global investment firm whose previous investments include Alibaba, ByteDance,
Yum China and Mead Johnson China. Adastria and Ondine Capital participated in
the round too. Love, Bonito’s current investors include Openspace Ventures and Kakaku.com.

Proceeds from the fundraising will enable the brand to bolster efforts
in existing omnichannel markets and supercharge
international expansion in markets that collectively are experiencing
triple digits year-on-year (YoY) growth. These key markets include Hong Kong,
Japan, Philippines and the US. Furthermore, the company is exploring categories
outside of fashion as part of its plan to create a female ecosystem.

(Above: Love, Bonito Senior Leadership Team)

Supercharging International Expansion

Since its launch in 2010, Love, Bonito has achieved impressive growth,
expanding into 10 key markets which include those in Southeast Asia, namely
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and East Asia markets,
namely Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan as well as Australia and the US.

To date, Love, Bonito has achieved overall growth of over 120 per cent
YoY in international markets, and overall growth of 208 per cent for its online
sales. The company believes the Asian diaspora communities have extremely high
potential, especially in the US, where online revenue growth exceeded 1,200 per
cent YoY as of September 2021.

With the latest funding, the brand will double down efforts within
markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia that have omni-channel
presence, while other markets such as Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines and the US
will see an expansion in omni-channels, new business verticals, strengthening
of local community engagement and key collaborations, as well as the continuous
optimisation of user experiences.

“I am more excited
than ever for what is to come in the next decade,” said Rachel Lim, Co-Founder
of Love, Bonito. “The growth we see today would not have happened without
#TeamLB and our #LBCommunity who consistently strive to support women in the
different seasons of their lives. Being in the business of women has been our
mission since day one, and we are finally venturing outside of fashion to
bolster our offerings.”

Business of Women vs Business of Fashion

In line with the brand’s mission to empower the everyday Asian woman,
plans are in place to increase offerings within the fashion line to include active apparel and accessories. The
brand is also looking to venture into a content
platform (LiBrary) as well as exploration into new categories (LaB) which will include wellness.

The category and product expansion strategy is informed and driven by
data and community feedback garnered from several platforms, including the
brand’s soon-to-be-launched artificial intelligence that delivers
personalisation at scale for women globally, through data and machine-learning
models. Other existing platforms that contribute to the insights and knowledge
gathering include:

• LBCommunity+: Love, Bonito’s loyalty programme that
  provides customers an all-access community and rewards experience
• LBCreate: Love, Bonito’s social impact programme with
  the mission to bring women’s issues to the forefront and create actionable
  steps for the future

“We have built a
strong foundation in understanding the everyday Asian woman in order to be pre-emptive
in catering to her needs,” said Dione Song, CEO of Love, Bonito. “We are primed
to become a true life partner for our community of women, in and beyond fashion.
We have yet to see a womenswear brand from the region stand proud on the world
stage amongst industry heavyweights and we want to be the first brand to
achieve that, by being purpose-driven, community-focused and innovative.

“We want to extend
our heartfelt thanks to our existing and new investors who bring deep consumer
investment experience and recognise the potential of the Asian consumer, both
within and outside of the region,” added Dione.

Lead investor
Primavera provided a statement: “Love, Bonito has proven itself to be a
one-of-a-kind, purpose-driven brand for women across all life-stages. Consumers
are drawn by what the brand stands for and its mission to empower women around
the world. Primavera is deeply impressed by how much the team has achieved over
the last decade and looks forward to tapping into our understanding and
experience in the global consumer sector to help elevate Love, Bonito to the
next level. We are thrilled to join Dione and the rest of the team on this
path-breaking journey.”

Love, Bonito’s first
external institutional investor, Openspace said: “From day one, we believed in
what the brand could achieve as a business led by women, for women. We are
thrilled to now work alongside esteemed investors like Primavera to help write
the brand’s next chapter.”

Series
B lead investor Kakaku.com added: “We are delighted to be on the global stage
with Love, Bonito, and will continue to support the brand’s data and tech
strategies, especially on their entry into the Japanese market.”

In
the next phase of its growth, Love, Bonito aims to shake up the fashion
industry by creating a more meaningful impact on its community across all life
stages. The brand is setting its sights on creating a thoughtful and
well-rounded female ecosystem, supporting different facets of women’s needs
within Asian countries and reaching further into the Asian diaspora communities
across the globe.