Konvy and Sociolla’s retail push

Exclusive interviews with the CEOs of Konvy and Sociolla on their plans to dominate Southeast Asia's beauty market.

Read from your browser Daily Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia's tech and startup buzz. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS Thailand's Konvy is building SEA's next beauty destination Sociolla gets ready for an IPO Grab finalizes Stash Financial deal Hello Betamax, Shopping for beauty products, at least for me, needs to be a personal experience. There's nothing like swatching multiple shades of lipstick on the back of your hand under the luminous lighting of beauty counters or the thrill of finding the right shade of concealer after countless tries. A friendly sales lady who has a good eye for color and style makes the stop on a beauty counter all the better. Turns out, I'm not alone in thinking that way. For our first top story, I learned from Konvy CEO QingGui Huang that no matter how good a deal is online, beauty shoppers still gravitate toward shopping in stores. So in 2023, his Thailand-based ecommerce platform Konvy began opening retail shops in malls. It's a curious move at a time when TikTok Shop is fast becoming one of the leading sales channels of beauty brands across Southeast Asia. Konvy isn't the only one adopting this online-to-offline approach. Its regional counterpart, Indonesia's Sociolla, also has more than 150 offline stores across Southeast Asia. Sociolla is now flirting with the idea of going public in its home country. My colleague Jofie has more in his interview with the company's CEO. Both firms are pursuing growth as their home countries grapple with a slowing economy and softer consumer demand. Is their success the lipstick effect at work? It's a term coined by Estee Lauder founder Leonard Lauder who reported that sales continued to grow for his beauty empire even during the 2001 recession. For a region that loves to shop everything beauty, I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Elyssa Lopez, journalist TOP STORIES 1️⃣ The rising Thai beauty firm that's betting on malls, not TikTok Fresh off a return to profitability in Thailand, Konvy is aiming to grow group revenue by 30% this year. Its ambitions to build an offline retail network and distribute Thai and Japanese beauty brands, however, face stiff competition from Southeast Asia's conglomerate-backed retailers. 2️⃣ Sociolla glams up for IPO, eyes Singapore launch this year Unknown to many, Sociolla's B2B distribution business was the company's main revenue driver for years, supplying beauty products to retailers across Indonesia, including its competitors. Now, the company is betting on its consumer-facing retail business to fuel growth instead. With Indonesia's economy facing multiple headwinds, the question is whether that strategy can deliver. A VISUAL STORY YOU SHOULDN'T MISS The key players behind SEA's beauty market glow-up While cosmetic and personal care brands dominate Southeast Asia's beauty sector, as our market landscape published last month showed, marketplaces such as Konvy and Sociolla have attracted the bulk of funding in recent years. That may be due to the growing complexity of attracting and retaining beauty shoppers in the region. These days, running an engaging social media campaign is no longer enough; finding your customers offline is critical, too. TRENDING NEWS 1️⃣ Grab completes acquisition of Stash Financial for $425m Grab has completed its acquisition for the US-based fintech firm, purchasing a 50.1% stake with a combination of cash and stock. Stash operates an AI-enabled investing app with about 1 million users. Grab says it expects to strengthen its own fintech know-how with the acquisition. 2️⃣ Malaysian VC firm Vynn backs retail tech startup Etaily A Malaysia-based VC firm invested in Etaily for an undisclosed amount to finance the ecommerce enabler's expansion plan to Indonesia. Previously, the Manila-based startup only operated in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. 3️⃣ Kuaishou's Kling AI nears $3b funding, sources say The new funding round would push its valuation to US$18 billion. The efforts are part of its plan to list in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the next 12 months. 4️⃣ Ex-Intel exec's startup Oxmiq secures $35m series A Founded by former Intel chief architect and executive vice president Raja Koduri, Oxmiq will use the fresh capital to commercialize its OxCore graphics processing unit architecture in a bid to compete in the Nvidia-dominated space. 5️⃣ SG robotics accelerator cohort sees $125m raise, exit RoboNexus is an accelerator program for Singapore-based robotics startups and SMEs. Launched in 2025, the program saw one startup under its cohort, dConstruct Technologies, raise US$125 million. Another, Spinoff Robotics, was acquired by Australian Securities Exchange-listed Nanoveu. SHOWCASE YOUR FUNCTIONAL AI PRODUCTS Move beyond the pitch deck to production reality Do you have a functional AI solution built for more than just a slide deck? That could belong in the AI Showcase Zone of Tech in Asia Conference 2026. 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