Wang Sicong, the son of China's richest man Dalian Wanda Group's Wang Jianlin, has made his first bet in the beauty industry by backing a new concept anti-aging beauty brand in China, Ningyue.
Founded in June 2016, Ningyue has raised tens of millions RMB from an unidentified Chinese investor, and is near closing a RMB100 million (US$14 million) pre-A round from unnamed investors, the start-up announced in Beijing.
Ningyue plans to combine a mobile app with offline anti-aging centers, as well as smart hardware and anti-aging skincare products, to provide comprehensive anti-aging solutions.
"It's easy to make money from women," Wang Sicong, chairman of venture and private equity firm Prometheus Capital, told Chinese media. "As people live longer, they are willing to spend more on maintaining their youth."
The Chinese cosmetology industry is worth around RMB450 billion (US$65 billion), of which RMB100 billion is in the medical cosmetology segment. Ningyue focuses on the light medical cosmetology market, which has been growing at 45% annually, it said.
The industry is, however, challenged by the lack of consumer confidence and regulatory oversight. There is currently little industry standards, while a shortage of qualified professionals makes it harder to gain customer trust.
Ningyue plans to incorporate mobile apps, e-commerce, financial services and life science in its operations. It also plans to expand geographically to smaller cities in China by leveraging its celebrator backers.
The start-up currently has two offline centers in Beijing, and will open five in total before the end of second quarter 2017.