Funding Achievements
Within just one year, KOKOLU has completed three rounds of financing, raising nearly $10 million.
About KOKOLU
Founded by Beta community member Luanne in 2018, KOKOLU entered the U.S. market in March 2022. The brand specializes in apparel, footwear, and home goods made from sustainable and eco-friendly materials.
Launch in the U.S. Market
In its first year in the U.S., KOKOLU released the world’s first 100% sustainable and eco-friendly casual shoes and handbags, primarily made from recycled plastic water bottles. Currently, the KOKOLU official website offers five categories of products: women’s footwear, handbags, eco-friendly clothing, eco-friendly accessories, and eco-friendly stickers. The brand has also launched white shoes made with GreenKsole® and algae fiber. KOKOLU consistently adheres to the brand philosophy of being natural, eco-friendly, sustainable, and renewable. This philosophy aligns perfectly with the Western market’s ongoing call for “carbon neutrality,” giving KOKOLU a natural advantage in the U.S. market. After all, the United States places great emphasis on environmental protection, and fast-fashion giant SHEIN has faced significant criticism earlier for its environmental damage caused by fast fashion.
Commitment to Extreme Sustainability
KOKOLU’s pursuit of extreme sustainability is not only reflected in the use of recycled materials but also spans raw material sourcing, material development, and patent layout, taking the brand two years to achieve. The plant-based materials used by KOKOLU are a testament to its sustainable features. Unlike traditional algae fiber available in the market, the algae fiber used in KOKOLU products is sourced from the Great Lakes in the United States. This reduces the use of petroleum and plastics while helping to decrease carbon dioxide emissions and purify water resources. Balancing environmental friendliness and comfort, algae fiber is more costly than cotton, linen, and synthetic fibers. Therefore, KOKOLU has signed 5-8 year strategic agreements with new material suppliers to establish cost advantages comparable to international brands like Lululemon and Nike.
Market Strategy and Performance
Currently, KOKOLU primarily establishes DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) channels on its official website tailored to the habits of overseas consumers, and leverages Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) on social media platforms for brand exposure and promotion. According to KOKOLU’s Brand Director, Gigi Ji, after the website launch, the main consumers are women aged 20-35. Additionally, the customer repurchase rate has reached 20%, with 10% of customers making 3-4 repeat purchases, which is higher than the industry average.
Expansion Plans
KOKOLU has already opened a city pop-up store in Tokyo, Japan. Next year, it plans to open offline pop-up stores in New York, Los Angeles, and Hawaii, allowing users to deeply experience the brand’s sustainable lifestyle. Additionally, KOKOLU will adopt an online-offline traffic integration strategy to build a more stable private traffic pool, enhancing user stickiness and repurchase rates. The city pop-up stores will not only showcase existing handbags and casual shoes but also exclusively release limited-color lightweight running shoe series. In the future, KOKOLU plans to enter the Chinese market for O2O (Online-to-Offline) marketing activities. Shenzhen and Shanghai will be the first two cities for offline pop-up stores, while KOKOLU will create consumer communities using mini-programs.
Learn More About KOKOLU
Interested friends can visit the KOKOLU brand website: https://kokolu.eco/
