Lululab goes all-out to expand global presence

Lululab Inc.‘s CEO Choe Yong-joon.

South Korean beauty technology startup Lululab Inc. expects to see its global sales increase by three to four times in 2024 from the previous year on the back of strong demand for its artificial intelligence (AI)-based skin solutions, according to its Chief Executive Officer Choe Yong-joon.

“We supplied 13,000 diagnostic devices equipped with our AI scalp diagnostic solution to a multinational company in the second half of 2023,” Choe said in a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper.

“Lululab, which focuses on facial skin diagnostics, has now expanded its solution to cover the entire body.”

Choe added that the supply to the multinational company has paved the way for Lululab to enter the global market.

“Our global sales are expected to increase by three to four times in 2024 compared to the previous year,” he said.

Lululab, which holds over 4 million skin data and ranks as the world’s leading AI skin diagnostic company, has primarily focused on skin diagnostics but recently expanded its diagnostic scope to include the scalp.

“Just as you can diagnose facial skin, understand its characteristics, and receive customized cosmetic recommendations with Lululab’s solution, you can now identify scalp issues such as hair loss at their early stages and take care of your scalp’s health,” Choe said. “We are also in discussions with major hospitals to include skin and scalp diagnostics as an option during health check-ups.”

Lululab was founded in May 2017 by Choe, who graduated from Cornell University’s Department of Biological Engineering. The company was spun off as an in-house venture from Samsung Electronics Co., where Choe proposed the AI beauty and diagnostic business based on skin data.

Lululab has been recognized for its technological prowess, winning the Innovation Award at the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s largest IT and consumer electronics exhibition, for four consecutive years since 2019.

The company introduced Lumini SDK, an application that analyzes skin condition via smartphone, in 2023 which received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

The Lumini Kiosk. [Courtesy of Lululab Inc.]

The Lumini Kiosk, installed in cosmetic stores, aesthetic shops, and hospitals, uses a smart mirror to analyze seven skin parameters – pores, wrinkles, sebum, pigmentation, redness, acne, and dark circles – with a single face scan. The results are sent to the customer’s smartphone to provide tailored solutions.

Lululab is seeing success in Southeast Asia, a region that is particularly interested in K-beauty.

A notable example is the export of Lumini Kiosk and a hospital management CRM system to a general hospital affiliated with Hanoi Medical University in Vietnam in 2023.

“We are exporting to university hospitals in various countries as well as local clinics starting this year, which makes it easier for consumers in each country to access the Lululab platform and is expected to boost sales,” Choe said.

He is pushing for the expansion from face and scalp-centered skin analysis solutions to entire body analysis solutions, which encompasses expanding from beauty to the medical field.

One such effort is the development of digital medical devices related to orthostatic or inducible hypotension.

“We received certification from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for GMP software devices in March 2024,” Choe said, noting that it is a step towards advancing beyond the beauty domain into disease prediction and diagnosis.

“We aim to expand into the disease prediction and diagnosis field and are planning to list on the Kosdaq market by 2026,” he said.

In the meantime, Lululab opened its first unmanned store at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul in May, where consumers can experience Lululab’s AI skin and scalp diagnostic solutions. The store offers AI-based skin analysis for cosmetic recommendations, as well as on-site payment and delivery services.