Nothing predestined Ning Li to become a key player in the cosmetics industry. At 16, the teenager left his native China for Normandy. After earning his baccalauréat and receiving a scholarship, he joined the preparatory classes at Lycée Louis-le-Grand before entering HEC. An entrepreneurial spirit from the start, he first exported pebbles from Dieppe to China, then moved into building showcase websites. Ning learned how to code, prospected brands, and offered interfaces at prices lower than those of his competitors.

A few years later, together with Stéphane Setbon (H.01), he co-founded MyFab, a flash-sales website inspired by Venteprivée.com. The success was immediate. Kering subsequently took a significant stake in the start-up, which grew to 180 employees.

At 28, Ning Li went on to found Made.com with two other partners, including Julien Callede (H.06). An online furniture and home décor platform, he served as its CEO for the first eight years. Seventeen months after its IPO in 2021, the company—hit by an unfavorable economic climate and logistical difficulties in Asia—was forced to shut down.

In 2019, Ning Li launched Typology. The skincare brand offers clean products with simplified, fully transparent formulas. Natural, vegan, and made in France, it now ranks among the top four online skincare brands. Fully digital, with nearly 300,000 followers on social media, Typology is sold in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Since 2022, it has also been present in the United States, where a local team has been recruited.

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