[Business Inside-160] Viva Tech, an international IT exhibition held in France every May. 

It is recognized as one of the most prestigious exhibitions in Europe, comparable to CES in the United States and MWC in Spain. 

As the status increases, more and more companies are participating in Korea. It was one of the participating companies in the "LVMH Luxury Lab" that caught the reporter's attention. 

LVMH Luxury Lab is a program introduced by Viva Tech by LVMH Group, the parent company of the luxury brand "Louis Vuitton," selecting 30 potential partner companies 

that align with LVMH among small and medium-sized ventures and startups around the world.

While looking through the list here, there was a familiar name.

lululab.

It was a startup that a reporter saw when he was covering C Lab, a Samsung Electronics startup development program.

The story of CEO Choe Yong-joon, who majored in biotechnology at Cornell University in the U.S. and later joined Samsung Electronics while studying genes, 

eventually entered the path of in-house start-ups again with a business model that combines IT and beauty industries was impressive. 

CEO Choe joined Samsung Electronics because he designated the next healthcare of his smartphone as a new type of business in the future. 

In the end, the item developed seems to have had this background of joining the background of joining the company. 

Lumini, developed by CEO Choe, is a service in which artificial intelligence (AI) determines the skin condition 

by itself when reflected on the face like taking a selfie and recommends customized cosmetics or management methods based on this.

How was the relationship with LVMH created?

"I went to CES in 2017 with the help of Samsung Electronics when I was in C Lab. 

Usually, when a skin diagnostic device touches a specific part of the face like a stethoscope, it measures the pores and sebum conditions of that part. 

But our device just takes a picture of the entire face, and then AI diagnoses the skin condition of the entire face. 

Since there are few companies like this, it received a lot of attention from domestic and foreign media. I came back to Korea after the exhibition, 

and I got a call from LVMH headquarters. I want to meet them once. And not too long after that, the meeting took place. 

The person who visited me was CTO (CEO) of LVMH headquarters. It was still before the official product was released."

According to CEO Choe, after hearing the introduction of the Lulu Lab company, the CTO said, 

"There has been no company that has taken this approach," and hoped to continue exchanges in the future. 

I thought it would be a ritual, but it wasn't. 

Since then, he has consistently contacted lululab not only in terms of technology but also when it goes abroad.

In the meantime, I learned about the French Viva Tech LVMH Luxury Lab program and confirmed my participation in May after applying. 

In fact, the competition rate is so fierce that there are more than 1,000 support companies every year. 

However, considering that Lulu Lab has been selected, it seems that it is not an ordinary technology.

Even if it is not LVMH, lululab seems to be attracting more attention abroad than in Korea. 

It was early this year that "Lumini" was released, but it was ordered from "Unifarco," a pharmacy chain that already has 4,800 stores in Europe, 

and the U.S. P&G headquarters also bought it as soon as it was released.

Recently, you can also experience Lulu Lab products at the Lafayette Department Store in Dubai Mall, UAE, where 100 million people visit annually. 

It is said that it can be used until June in the form of an artificial intelligence beauty store.



I had to stop by Dubai after finishing an overseas exhibition in March, and I was introduced to an official in charge of beauty at Gallery Lafayette Department Store. 

We had a meeting for about 20 minutes, and they asked us to proceed right away in the form of a pop-up store. 

Of course, on the condition of buying our products. When the service started, it is surprisingly located within a short time, with about 1,000 users a day. 

It is also meaningful in that we can secure big data on skin in the Middle East."

The question here.

Collecting big data? What does that mean? Also, how does it relate to the business?

"It's been two months since the service was launched, and I exported it to 10 countries. 

Perhaps because you can diagnose your skin in 10 seconds like taking a selfie, 300,000 data have already been accumulated in two months since Lumini began to be installed overseas. 

Data from each country comes in according to region, climate, and race, and as AI automatically classifies it by characteristic, the data itself is gradually becoming more advanced. 

For example, in the Middle East, there are many people with wide pores due to the strong sun, but in these areas, products that cover them can be planned and produced or developed. 

This can be said to be treasure-like information for global beauty companies. Previously, products that were mass-produced 

with flashy advertisements were introduced with beauty, but now the more big data accumulates, the more personalized cosmetics can be made by region, race, and individual."

In addition, CEO Choe was drawing a picture to evolve into a genetic customized (DTC) service by combining his major, biotechnology, as well as healthcare services that analyze the connection between skin data and diseases.

We are still in the planning stage, but personal assistant service terminals such as Amazon, Google, and KT GiGA Genie can be developed into customized 

product order services by installing lululab's video diagnosis solution. The start is IT and beauty, but the direction of partnership and development is endless."

At Viva Tech in May, lululab is curious about what new devices and services it will introduce. LVMH Luxury Lab will select the long-awaited 

No. 1 LVMH Innovation Award through competitive pitching for 30 participating companies during the event. At CES earlier this year, lululab had already won the Innovation Award. 

Once again, I look forward to seeing Nangbo from France.