Japanese cosmetics outfit Shiseido has invested 100 million renminbi ($14.8 million) in Jiangsu Trautec Medical Technology, a Chinese developer of recombinant collagen produced by biosynthesis.
Shiseido will form a strategic partnership with Trautec to work together in areas such as product R&D, raw material supply, and sales channels to accelerate the exploration of new areas in functional skincare.
Established in 2015, Trautec is dedicated to the development and production of non-animal recombinant collagen-based biomaterials for the medical and cosmetics industries.
Trautec’s value chain includes R&D, manufacturing and distribution. The company holds multiple intellectual property rights in the development of recombinant collagen, and owns a production plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu province.
“The market of functional skincare, which offers specific functions to skin, is growing significantly as more and more Chinese consumers are looking for effective solutions to their skin problems,” said Shiseido.
“The needs for recombinant collagen are expanding because of its stability and effectiveness as well as wide application to medical, healthcare and cosmetics fields,” it added.
The investment vehicle for the transaction is Shiseido Beauty Innovations Fund.
“Through the fund, Shiseido will fuse the values of itself and emerging companies to enhance its business portfolio in China to meet the diversifying consumer needs and to steadily strengthen the China business, which is one of the pillars of the company’s medium-to-long-term strategy ‘WIN 2023 and Beyond’,” it said.
