3 girls start a skin care brand and hope to break even next year

Hong Kong people have often worn masks during the "three years of fighting the epidemic". Coupled with the subtropical climate, skin problems are prone to occur. Three girls, Zhao Kairong (Arey), Chen Lixuan (Alicia), and Xu Biqin (Lavinia), worked tirelessly to find solutions and founded the marine skin care brand Mer-Veille (hereinafter referred to as MV). They inject scientific research results into skin care products, hoping to help Hong Kong people solve their skin sensitivity. , Acne troubles. The company currently sells mainly through online stores and intends to expand B2B (business-to-business) business, hoping to reach breakeven by the end of next year.

In order to solve the common skin problems of Hong Kong people, the three founders of MV constantly read the works of dermatologists and studied skin care knowledge. In their daily chats, they often discuss "which cosmetics brands are good and which ingredients are good for the skin." As their lives went well, the three of them continued to accumulate knowledge and discovered that some brands on the market were "not 100% correct" in their knowledge of skin care, so they came up with the idea of setting up their own skin care brand. Later, the company owner Victor Xue Zhiwei invested in starting the business as an investor, which led to the birth of MV.

Average monthly sales increased by 30%, plans to expand B2B business

Zhao Kairong, Chen Lixuan, and Xu Biqin are all employees of the local start-up company Labway, and Xue Zhiwei is one of the founders of Labway. In MV, although Xue Zhiwei is the largest investor, he does not interfere in daily business operations. However, Zhao Kairong said that Xue Zhiwei often shared his entrepreneurial experience as a veteran, which made the three of them "lessen the unnecessary journey."

In June 2021, MV successfully developed its own "MV-BIO sea cucumber collagen peptide". Tests have proven that sea cucumber collagen is very effective in inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus, which is one of the main sources of skin problems. In addition, other main ingredients of MV products are polar brown seaweed and mother-of-pearl extract.

MV is the first skin care brand in Hong Kong that combines marine scientific research. When the three started their business, they had no precedent to refer to. "Everything started from scratch." However, the process of starting the business has been relatively smooth so far. Zhao Kairong said that the company's current sales growth is "almost good". From June to now, monthly sales have recorded an average increase of 20% to 30%. It is expected that by the end of 2023, it hopes to reach breakeven.

Partner with local fishermen to create cleaning products made from pearl shells

MV is still in its early stages of business, and its products include marine antioxidant repair essence, marine repair and radiant cream, and sea cucumber peptide repair and rejuvenation mask. Xu Biqin revealed that the company is planning to cooperate with local fishermen to produce cleaning products using local pearl shells. The details of the cooperation are still under negotiation. Chen Lixuan added that after collecting pearls, many people would regard pearl shells as garbage. However, she pointed out that the active ingredients contained in pearl shells are actually the same as pearls. She hopes that the project will help protect the environment.

In addition to the local market and retail customers, MV also intends to expand overseas markets and B2B business in the medium to long term. However, Zhao Kairong said that different places have different regulations on skin care products, and the requirements in some markets are "very strict" and are still being evaluated. Alicia added that she understands that the B2B market has huge potential, and MV is also interested in expanding it. However, sea cucumber ingredients are still relatively new in the Hong Kong market, and it also depends on factors such as MV’s production volume.

Mer-Veille intends to expand overseas markets and B2B business. From left are Chen Lixuan, Zhao Kairong and Xu Biqin.

Introduction to the founder of Mer-Veille

Chen Lixuan (Alicia)	He is a Malaysian and holds a PhD in Marine Ecology. He is mainly responsible for scientific research at MV.
Zhao Kairong (Arey)	I studied Ecology at university. In addition to being responsible for R&D work at MV, I also have to take care of business operations, such as product R&D, operating online stores, accounting, etc.
Xu Biqin (Lavinia)	Mainly responsible for marketing, product design and brand building (brand building)