Online beauty products retailers LoveLula and Zuneta have merged
to form Zulu Beauty. The deal was backed by investment from
Forward Venture Partners and sees Forward’s Paul Fisher join the
board of the new company alongside LoveLula founder Claire
Braithwaite and Zuneta founder Zu Rafalat.
The two businesses will continue to operate separately, explains
Rafalat. “The Zuneta customer and the LoveLula customer
have different needs when it comes to beauty. Zuneta will always
focus on high-end and niche brands while LoveLula will remain
focused on natural and organic brands. We have a strict
ingredient policy on LoveLula that will also remain in
place.”
Rafalat says that the “real merger will occur behind the
scenes”. Claire Braithwaite is a chartered accountant, and
will head Zulu Beauty’s finance and operations divisions. Rafalat
formerly worked at L’Oreal focusing on product development and
launching new brands, and will head the buying and marketing
divisions. Over the next few years, Zulu plans to launch new
beauty sites, each catering to a different niche, says
Rafalat.
With the added investment from Forward, the company is able to
expand its business in Europe and further afield, says Rafalat.
This will include local-language websites for new markets, as
well as opening a distribution centre in Asia and in the US
“at some stage in the not too distant future”.
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