A newly acquired beauty brand is being tipped to hit £100m turnover inside four years after it was bought by eComplete, an eCommerce growth partner and investor.
Liverpool-based Give Me Cosmetics, which was co-founded in 2017 by Dan Fletcher and Luke Mills and generates over 60 per cent of its revenue from social channels, is one of the UK’s fastest-growing beauty brands on TikTok.
Paul Gedman, co-founder of eComplete, told BusinessCloud that Give Me Cosmetics had the potential to grow from a £20m turnover and EBITDA of more than 20 per cent to £100m inside four years.
Gedman will be speaking about the deal and the future of the beauty eCommerce sector at an exclusive event – entitled ‘The path to eCommerce growth and investment in 2024’ – at KPMG’s Manchester office on March 26th.
Give Me Cosmetics is eComplete’s second investment, following its £50m investment in award-winning eCommerce beauty business CurrentBody in November 2021.
eComplete was founded in January 2021 by former THG executives Paul Gedman and Andy Duckworth.
Gedman said: “One of the reasons we like Give Me Cosmetics is the brand position. The company has the opportunity to disrupt what is predominately an offline part of the market.
“It’s hard to make money from low average order values so the majority of activity happen in retail and that tends to be dominated by big brands like like L’Oréal, Estée Laude and Unilever.
“We’re only going to buy something where the product is exceptional and we know the products at Give Me Cosmetics are really good because the reviews say so.”
As part of eComplete’s lengthy due diligence process, Gedman travelled to China to see Give Me Cosmetics’ manufacturing operations for himself.
“It’s unreal,” he said. “What they’re doing in China is on a whole new level. Give me Cosmetics have got better product reviews than many of their competitors.”
eComplete first started looking into Give Me Cosmetics in September 2023 and announced their majority acquisition in January 2024 after a competitive process.
Gedman said: “There are thousands of different data points that we have to look at. We have to prove to ourselves it can be a leader in the accessible beauty space and can it be a disrupter against the incumbent brands in that space? We think the answer to both questions is ‘yes’.”
Gedman also praised the vision of Give Me Cosmetics’ CEO Dan Fletcher.
“We really believe in Dan,” said Gedman. “He hasn’t come from a beauty background so has no pre-conceptions, which is a huge positive.
“He noticed that the women in his life weren’t been talked to by the beauty industry.
“Women didn’t feel connected to brands. How can they when brands create content with an image of a supermodel under a waterfall?”
eComplete provide a package of support to the brands they work with, including financial backing and the crucial eCommerce infrastructure needed for global success.
Speaking when the acquisition was announced Fletcher said: “We’re extremely happy with this acquisition; eComplete not only mirrors our vision and values, but they share the excitement and confidence to make the Give Me brand global.”
eComplete’s event – ‘The path to eCommerce growth and investment in 2024’ – starts at 9am on March 26th at KPMG’s offices in St Peter’s Square, Manchester and is aimed at eCommerce founders, eCommerce professional and investors.
Confirmed speakers include Paul Gedman and Andy Duckworth, co-founders, eComplete; Dan Fletcher, co-founder, Give Me Cosmetics; Christine Liu, growth partner, TikTok; Ricky Jennings, head of eCommerce, Represent; Michael Cass, global head of strategic accounts, SellersFi; and Alex Wright, partnership manager, SHOPLINE EMEA.
Sign up here.