Love, Bonito on Wednesday (27 October) announced its latest Series C funding round of $50 million. The round was led by Primavera Capital Group, a global investment firm whose previous investments include Alibaba, ByteDance, Yum China and Mead Johnson China. Adastria and Ondine Capital also participated in the latest round. 

Proceeds from the fundraising will enable the brand to bolster efforts in existing omni-channel markets and supercharge international expansion in markets that are experiencing triple digits year-on-year (YoY) growth.

Love, Bonito will also accelerate their brand awareness and community outreach, also win customer experience through thoughtful localizations in their key markets which include those in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, and the US.

“The growth we see today would not have happened without #TeamLB and our #LBCommunity who consistently strive to support women in the different seasons of their lives,” said Rachel Lim, Co-Founder of Love, Bonito. “Being in the business of women has been our mission since day one, and we are finally venturing outside of fashion to bolster our offerings.

Furthermore, Love, Bonito is exploring categories outside of fashion as part of its plan to create a female ecosystem. They will expand into active apparel and accessories, venture into a content platform (LIBrary), as well as new categories (LaB) which will include wellness.

“A lot of women come to Love, Bonito for guidance, education and information. We have a lot of conversations through social media, especially Instagram. Their question is not just about fashion, but about being a woman,” said Love, Bonito CEO Dione Song. “That’s the main reason why we wanted to launch LIBrary.”

The category and product expansion strategy is informed and driven by data and community feedback garnered from several platforms, such as LBCommunity+, their loyalty program, and LBCreate, their social impact program. The brand’s soon-to-be launched artificial intelligence will also deliver personalization at scale for women globally, through data and machine-learning models.

“We are primed to become a true life partner for our community of women, in and beyond fashion. We have yet to see a womenswear brand from the region stand proud on the world stage amongst industry heavyweights and we want to be the first brand to achieve that, by being purpose-driven, community-focus and innovative,” said Dione.

In the next phase of its growth, Love, Bonito aims to shake up the fashion industry by creating a more meaningful impact on its community across all life stages. The brand is setting its sights on creating a thoughtful and well-rounded female ecosystem, supporting different facets of women’s needs within Asian countries and reaching further into the Asian diaspora communities across the globe.