Beauty video content app secures $6.6m seed funding to "empower a new category of entrepreneur"

A startup aiming to disrupt the beauty industry through social commerce has secured multi-million dollar investment.

London-based AGORA has raised $6.6m in a seed investment round to expand its platform and grow its audience of ordinary brand fans looking to monetise their passion for beauty products.

Launched by co-founders Riccardo Basile and Elizabeth Craft Townsend-Rose, AGORA allows users to create and monetise video content by linking directly to products from their favourite beauty brands.

Riccardo Basile, Co-founder and CEO of AGORA, explained: “We built AGORA to transform the online beauty shopping experience and create opportunities for real people to monetise their talent and creativity, something that has only been available to brand-sponsored social media influencers.

He added: “AGORA will empower a new category of entrepreneur.”

The investment round, led by Draper Esprit with participation from Lakestar, Angel Capital Management and other investors, will enable the brand to reach new audiences and continue to develop the platform.

Lizzie Craft Townsend-Rose, co-founder and president of AGORA, commented: “We are particularly excited about the opportunity to offer live-streaming events and to use data in order to deliver a personalised, differentiated beauty shopping experience.”

Christoph Hornung, investment director at Draper Esprit, added: “We have a strong conviction that there is a huge market opportunity in Europe to build the predominant social e-commerce platform for beauty.

“Riccardo, Lizzie and I have worked together before at Lazada; we are all strong believers in fast execution. Draper Esprit is extremely excited to back AGORA as they build the largest social beauty business in Europe and beyond.”