Chinese fragrance brand melt season receives investment from Estée Lauder

On December 16, Chinese high-end fragrance brand melt season announced that it has received a strategic investment of tens of millions of yuan from New Incubation Ventures (NIV), an investment arm of the Estée Lauder Group.This marks Estée Lauder's second investment in a local Chinese brand, following an investment in Zhou Yangqing's beauty brand CODEMINT earlier this year.

Founded in 2020, melt season's parent company, Verse China, operates under Shanghai Jiashi Trade Co., Ltd, with Ni Lishi as the founder. As the inaugural brand of the group, melt season began with an upscale strategy in the perfume sector, gradually extending its range to other fragrance and personal care products. In 2022, melt season secured over ten million yuan in angel funding, led by Breeze Capital, after an initial seed round led by One Capital.

The product range of melt season includes perfumes and scented candles. Their 100ml perfumes are priced at 980 yuan, and their scented candles vary between 320 to 580 yuan. The brand primarily utilizes Xiaohongshu for marketing and customer engagement. It boasts three stores, two in Shanghai (Taiyuan Road and Jing'an Kerry Center) and one in Beijing's Sanlitun, in addition to a recent pop-up store in Shanghai's Qiantan Taikoo Li.