ZOZO, the Japanese fashion e-commerce group based in Chiba, said on 30 April 2026 that it had acquired all of the shares of High Link, a Tokyo startup that operates the fragrance platform Coloria. High Link became a wholly owned subsidiary of ZOZO.
The total cost of the deal was about ¥4.99bn (about $31.9m), according to Netshop Impress. Of that, ¥4.95bn (about $31.6m) was the price paid for the shares and an estimated ¥40m (about $260,000) covered advisory and related fees. The fashion trade site Fashionsnap reported that the share purchase took effect on 16 April, two weeks before the announcement, which ZOZO released on the same day as its results for the fiscal year that ended in March 2026.
The announcement did not mention any change to High Link's management or to the Coloria brand. ZOZO said it would send its own customers to the startup's services and add its e-commerce know-how and data.
What High Link built
High Link was founded in Tokyo in 2017 and is based in Shinagawa ward. Its mission, as stated in the announcement, is to colour the world with fragrance, and it describes itself as a "Life Tech Company".
Its main product is the Coloria fragrance subscription, a service that matches customers with perfumes and sends them on a regular schedule. Around that subscription the company built Coloria Magazine, a media site about fragrance, and Coloria Home, a lifestyle brand of scented products for the home. ZOZO's announcement said the service had won support mainly from younger consumers.
The release also pointed to High Link's large store of fragrance-specific data and its marketing know-how as assets that ZOZO wanted to bring into the group. Neither company disclosed High Link's revenue, profit, number of subscribers or headcount.
Why ZOZO is buying
ZOZO has named growth in what it calls the "Near Fashion" area as one of its strategies. The idea is to build businesses and profit in categories next to clothing, extending a company that has so far centred on apparel. ZOZO said perfume is closely tied to fashion, and the purchase gives the group an entry into the fragrance market.
The deal also brings a different way of selling, since Coloria is built on a recurring subscription. ZOZO said it planned to use subscriptions and other sales methods learned from High Link to expand faster into fashion-adjacent categories.
On the customer side, ZOZO plans to direct its large user base to High Link's services. It also intends to apply its e-commerce operations experience and its data to create what it called discovery experiences, meaning ways for shoppers to come across perfumes they did not know before.
The founders and the funding
High Link raised venture money before the sale, though the amounts were not made public. The startup database INITIAL lists a Series B marker dated June 2022 and names ANRI, Prime Partners, Mitsubishi Estate and ZOZO among its shareholders, which suggests ZOZO already held a stake before buying the rest of the company. INITIAL also records a November 2024 strategic partnership with BRICKS FUND TOKYO, Mitsubishi Estate's corporate venture fund, without an amount.
INITIAL gives June 2017 as the founding date and names the company's representative director. High Link's total funding and the return to its investors were not disclosed.
What happens to customers
ZOZO did not announce any changes to the Coloria subscription, the magazine or the home brand. Its stated plan is to grow those services by sending ZOZO's shoppers to them and by adding its own data and operating practices.
The plan carries risk. An analysis of ZOZO's first-quarter results for the fiscal year to March 2027, published by Gyokai Digest after ZOZO reported on 31 July 2026, noted that monetising High Link and creating synergies with Coloria might not go as planned.
A step beyond clothing
For ZOZO, the purchase is a bet that its fashion shoppers can be carried into a neighbouring category. ZOZO chose fragrance because it sees perfume as closely tied to fashion, and Coloria has already built a following among younger consumers.
For High Link, the deal ends nearly nine years as an independent company and gives it access to ZOZO's customer base and e-commerce operations. How quickly ZOZO can turn that audience into Coloria subscribers will be visible in the group's results over the coming quarters.
