36Kr Exclusive | Positioned for Seamless Facial Grooming, Men's Beauty Brand "GREENLAB" Completes Nearly 10 Million Yuan Pre-A Round of Financing

36Kr learned that the seamless facial grooming brand "GREENLAB" recently announced the completion of a nearly ten-million-yuan Pre-A round of financing. This round was invested by Hexiang Venture Capital, and the funds will be used for new product R & D and mass production, brand building, etc.

"GREENLAB" (hereinafter referred to as "Greenlab") was established in 2023 and launched its first product in June 2024. It is positioned as "seamless facial grooming" and is committed to meeting the needs of "refined and lazy" male users. According to Qingyan Intelligence data, Greenlab ranked first among men's makeup brands in the first half of 2025 (calculated by the GMV market share of major online channels). Currently, Greenlab's pioneering "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion" has become its main product.

The "family portrait" of Greenlab's products

Despite the overall sluggish consumption, men's beauty products still show "high growth". Euromonitor data shows that the growth rate of the men's beauty market in 2024 was about 6.4%. However, from the overall data, the retail sales of cosmetics of units above the designated size in China decreased by 1.1% year - on - year in 2024.

William, the founder of Greenlab, once worked at Deloitte and Tencent. His sensitivity to data made him see the opportunity - the industry has a remarkable growth rate. From both the user's perspective and the industry observation perspective, "consumers' demand is increasing, and no brand has truly become their top choice in mind." The market is cold despite the hot data, and the general perception of the men's beauty field from the outside world is similar to William's.

The authenticity of the demand is widely debated, but what more practitioners fail to realize is that compared with the real demand, the homogeneous and stereotyped product supply has long been lagging behind.

After spending a year on product R & D and team building, Greenlab launched its first batch of products during the 618 promotion in 2024 - the "Lespedeza Slightly Acidic Layered Cleansing Foam" for staying - up - late scenarios and anti - blue - light radiation, and the "Ganoderma Lucidum Hyaluronic Acid Essence Lotion" for soothing acne.

However, Greenlab ended up with a "poor" result in that promotion. When splitting the general concept of men's beauty into "skin care" and "makeup", the former has a larger market and higher brand barriers. The traffic costs, time costs, and market education costs are beyond the reach of new brands. More importantly, skin care is just an "optional" "itchy - point need" for more male users. When facial problems start to affect social interaction, whether there is a product that can truly cover flaws may be the "pain point".

The 618 promotion was like a "touchstone", allowing the new brand to directly face the peak demand and test the market persuasion of its products. It was also an effective reference for self - adjustment. Soon, Greenlab completed the adjustment of its brand positioning and product line, and turned to focus on men's "makeup", which forms today's "Greenlab".

What is seamless facial grooming?

Everyone loves beauty. However, even today, the market still has a deep misunderstanding of men's makeup.

One misunderstanding lies in the social context. Men who love beauty are easily labeled with prejudiced terms such as "affected", "pretentious", and "effeminate". Even today, when men enter Sephora or beauty brand counters, they still can't avoid strange looks. Greenlab doesn't want men to be restricted by "makeup", so it came up with the concept of "grooming". They hope to break the prejudice and become the top choice in the minds of some Chinese men for facial grooming.

With the evolution of social concepts, the situation is constantly improving, and beauty brands are also entering the market one after another. The men's lines of L'Oréal Paris and Biotherm under the L'Oréal Group have been around for a long time, and more international beauty giants and Chinese companies have started to increase their investment in men's business in recent years.

However, another misunderstanding has emerged - brands' understanding of men's beauty needs is also deeply "stereotyped". The ocean - themed and muscle - man - themed products on the shelves usually feature oil control and hydration as default selling points, and dryness and stinging are common user experiences. On the one hand, men's needs for adjusting their facial conditions are not met. On the other hand, aesthetic trends are changing. The younger generation of consumers no longer clings to the so - called "masculinity" packaging but is more receptive to cutting - edge and new brand expressions.

Eliminating prejudice, getting out of self - indulgence, and seeing the truth are what Greenlab has been doing since its establishment.

The Greenlab team found in the initial user research that "being afraid of trouble" is the primary need of a considerable number of male users. The flip side is a simple question - users need products that are easy to use and have a weak sensory experience. "Greenlab hopes to allow them to take care of their facial conditions without psychological burden or a sense of artificiality," William told 36Kr.

"Seamless" has become Greenlab's first keyword. In addition, in terms of men's grooming needs, hairstyling has a leading brand like "Jishanchuan". William believes that for men to have a truly good appearance, facial conditions are also extremely important. Problems such as dark circles, acne pits, and acne marks can greatly affect the overall state - "facial grooming" constitutes Greenlab's second keyword.

Based on the positioning of "seamless facial grooming", Greenlab's products convey a sense of relaxation and naturalness in terms of packaging, usage methods, colors, etc. The most popular "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion" allows users to "apply makeup with bare hands" in the simplest way; the outer packaging of the "Flawless Cushion Foundation" has no logo and can be washed off with a facial cleanser; the packaging of the "Slightly Charred Setting Powder" also continues the simple and avant - garde visual style, and the color numbers are specially adjusted to be closer to the skin tone. The cushion has antioxidant effects, and the powder contains freeze - dried ingredients and is heavier than the average on the market. However, elements such as ingredients, efficacy, and content are downplayed in product promotion. "We want to make the products excellent, but we don't need to over - emphasize. It's better to become users than to educate them."

Greenlab's "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion" and "Flawless Cushion Foundation"

The "seamless" positioning has also been extended to brand expression - instead of "shouting with a loudspeaker", it reaches consumers through softer and more consumption - scenario - fitting event forms.

For example, in Futian, Shenzhen, Greenlab opened a small station composed of four enclosed compartments, each only 2 - 3 square meters. There are no sales staff, only products and a space for "seamless" facial grooming. Users who are interested can enter the store to experience without any pressure. Observation shows that the male store - entry rate is about 20%, much higher than expected, which also indirectly verifies the user demand.

Hit the "refined and lazy" group with the "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion"

A vivid brand must allow users to associate it with a distinct and specific image. For Greenlab, how should the concept of "seamless" be understood by the public? William's team also asked themselves, "Of course, we hope the brand has a seamless image, but this word is not anthropomorphic enough. What is the humanity behind it?"

Users who "are afraid of trouble" were "re - translated" by Greenlab and defined as the core user portrait - the "refined and lazy group". Its inner meaning is a modern lifestyle attitude that pursues high - efficiency and convenience without compromising on the quality of life. The core is to achieve "refinement" with a "lazy" lifestyle.

Among them, the product that best represents "seamless" and "refined and lazy" is Greenlab's star product, the "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion". This product created a new category. In terms of formula, it is different from traditional foundations and BB creams. It reduces the heavy makeup feeling of foundations and has stronger concealer ability than BB creams. The feature of not requiring makeup remover and being washable with a facial cleanser also reflects the brand's "seamless" concept.

In the first month of its launch, the "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion" achieved sales of 500,000 yuan. Currently, the monthly growth rate of this product still remains above 30%, and its sales account for more than 70% of Greenlab's total sales.

Greenlab's "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion"

When communicating with users about product usage experiences, the Greenlab team found that men's consumption is extremely rational and they have high brand loyalty. Once they recognize a product or a brand, they will repurchase infinitely. This is also reflected in Greenlab's practice. Currently, the repurchase rate of its male users exceeds 30%, which is much higher than the average level of female skin - care and beauty products.

The "refined and lazy" concept also hits the pain points of some female users. On the Xiaohongshu platform, there are many female bloggers and users posting recommendation posts about Greenlab's "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion", saying that it is a one - step solution and eliminates the cumbersome makeup steps. The female beauty market is well - developed. From skin - care products like lotions and essences to sunscreens, foundations, and concealers, there are countless products to choose from in each category, and girls' dressing tables are filled to the brim. However, a considerable number of products regard continuous product launches, ingredient stacking, efficacy promotion, and celebrity endorsements as the top priorities, while ignoring the most necessary usage scenarios.

"We hope that looking good means being simple, not cumbersome," William said. Radiating from the male market to female users also verifies the correctness of this starting point to some extent.

Now, there are many imitators of Greenlab's "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion", but the team is still determined to capture the category's mindshare. For the team, the top priority at present is to deepen and refine the "skin - perfecting lotion" category. The development of new products and brand promotion will all revolve around this star product.

Next, in addition to the "Original Skin Perfecting Lotion", Greenlab will also launch "skin - perfecting lotions" for different scenarios, such as those suitable for hiking or with functions like cold - proof, wind - proof, and water - proof in bad weather. The skin - care and fragrance lines are in relatively long - term plans, but the facial makeup line will remain the core of Greenlab in the next three years.

Go offline and discover the "d + e+..." of the brand beyond "a + b + c"

After achieving good results online, Greenlab is preparing to enter the offline market.

Offline is undoubtedly an important platform for brand expression. Greenlab hopes to communicate with users through this, so that brand concepts like "seamless" and "refined and lazy" can enter the real world and be expressed to real people.

Another significance is that offline is also a window for consumer brands to see, hear, and understand users. Every detail offline, such as users' clothing preferences and the shopping bags they carry when entering the store, intuitively shows the answers to "who I am" and "what I like". This is why many major beauty brands invest heavily in offline stores but do not assess the "counter conversion rate".

Greenlab's brand vision

William divides male users into three types: the first is the "straight - as - an - arrow men" who have never had any beauty or skin - care consumption; the second is the group that has had basic consumption of skin - care products like lotions and cleansers, which is also the largest group; the third is the extremely refined users who even buy high - end female brand products. Among them, the second group forms Greenlab's main user base.

Greenlab hopes to discover more internal commonalities among its main users beyond the "refined and lazy" concept. For William, the user portrait is like an infinite equation of "a + b + c + d + e+...". Greenlab may have established a, b, and c at this stage, but what the "d + e + f" part is, it will continue to explore.

Participating in every user interview personally for a long time is one way, and going offline is another way to open up new ideas. Facing an equation that is not fully formed, Greenlab is still looking for answers. "I hope to understand who the offline users are and what they really need."

In the mature beauty industry, China is never short of good supply chains and products, but lacks real - front - line market insights. This is what Greenlab is good at and what it has always been doing.

Investor's view

Yang Mengheng, the founding partner of Hexiang Venture Capital, said: The investment in Greenlab stems from its unique value and deep - seated potential in the men's beauty track. The team has delved deep into users' real needs and pioneered the new category of "skin - perfecting lotion". More importantly, the brand concepts of "seamless" and "refined and lazy" are not empty slogans but are deeply integrated into every aspect of product R & D, minimalist packaging design, and scenario - based marketing. We expect that this kind of innovation - based and long - term - value - oriented determination can redefine the value logic of men's beauty products.