5 Microbiome-Friendly Skincare Startups Protecting Skin’s Natural Flora
Traditional solutions have long focused on treating the skin’s surface with various chemicals to clean, moisturize, and rejuvenate in the skincare industry. While these methods have proven effective, they also come with challenges, such as disrupting the skin’s natural barrier, causing irritation, and sometimes leading to long-term damage.
Conventional approaches have somewhat overlooked the complexity of skin health, including the delicate balance of its microbiome—the community of microorganisms living on the skin’s surface.
Recent research highlights the crucial role of the skin microbiome in maintaining skin health, protecting against pathogens, and reducing the risk of various skin conditions.
Microbiome-friendly skincare emerges as a revolutionary approach to overcoming these challenges. It focuses on products that support the skin’s natural flora instead of disrupting it.
This new wave of skincare aims to maintain or restore the balance of the skin’s microbiome, leading to healthier, more resilient skin. It represents a shift towards holistic, science-based solutions that cater to the skin’s complex ecosystem, offering a promising alternative to traditional skincare regimens.
This article delves into the innovative world of microbiome-friendly skincare by spotlighting five startups. These startups have the potential to grow rapidly, are in a good market position, or can introduce game-changing technology to the market in the next 2-3 years. This makes them a great option to partner with, collaborate with, or acquire.
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1. Parallel Health Personalizing Dermatology With Phage Therapy System
| Founding Year | 2021 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco Bay Area, US |
| Total Funding Amount | $2 Million |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Grant |
| Website | https://www.parallelhealth.io/ |
Conventional treatments often involve trial and error with antibiotics. They do not consider the unique microbial makeup of an individual’s skin. Because of this, the skin microbiome can fall out of balance, leading to various skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and rosacea, impacting overall skin health and aging.
Parallel Health focuses on the lack of personalized treatments in dermatology. It addresses the intricate skin health problems related to the skin’s microbiome with its MD-03 Phage Protocol™ — a personalized phage therapy system.
This system uses whole genome sequencing to analyze an individual’s skin microbiome. It identifies harmful bacteria and then targets them with specific phages (viruses that infect bacteria) while preserving beneficial bacteria.
This approach is encapsulated in a custom phage therapy skin serum tailored to the individual’s unique skin microbiome profile. The technology offers a targeted and effective treatment for various skin conditions without antibiotics.
Parallel Health’s technology precision and personalization make it better than existing solutions. Clinical studies indicate a 99.9% reduction in inflammation and blemishes compared to conventional skin care methods.
Natalise Kalea Robinson was the CEO and co-founder of this startup. She holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Natalise started after her MBA as creative director for Social Tangerine (a growth and marketing firm). She has led CUDDLY as its COO and CEO for 2+ years.
Being head of Marketing (Octave) and VP of Marketing for Ellis Day Skin Science were also part of her growth journey before starting Parallel Health.
Parallel Health received a grant of an Unknown amount from HealthEngine in its last funding round on September 20, 2022.
2. Luna Daily Offering Everywhere Wash And Oils to Balance Body Microbiome
| Founding Year | 2019 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
| Total Funding Amount | £3 Million |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed/£3 Million |
| Website | https://luna-daily.com/ |
Inadequate and harsh body care products fail to cater to the delicate balance of the skin’s microbiome, especially in intimate areas. This concern needs products that respect the body’s natural ecosystem while being effective and gentle.
To solve these problems, Luna Daily developed a range of microbiome-balancing body care products. Its offerings, like The Everywhere Wash and The Everywhere Oil, are formulated to support the skin’s Microbiome health, using a blend of thermal water, prebiotic inulin, lactic Acid, and a mix of essential vitamins. These products are pH-balanced, vegan, and made with natural and necessary ingredients, designed to be gentle yet effective on all skin types, including intimate areas.
Luna Daily products are pH-balanced and made in collaboration with dermatologists and gynecologists. It ensures that the products support and nurture the skin’s natural defenses.
CEO and founder Katy Cottam leads this startup with her branding and marketing experience with cosmetic brands like L’Oréal. She was also a fifth founding member and Head Of Brand, Marketing, & Innovation for BOL Foods.
Luna Daily raised its latest funding of £3 Million from a seed round on Mar 28, 2023. It was led by Redrice Ventures, Joyance Partners, and Juice – eCommerce Funding.
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3. Exponent Beauty is Making Skincare Products Life Longer with Hyaluronic Hydrator
| Founding Year | 2019 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US |
| Total Funding Amount | Undisclosed |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed |
| Website | https://exponentbeauty.com/ |
Active ingredients in skincare products degrade, compromising their effectiveness over time. On an average usable lifetime of the product, these ingredients degrade by 40% within eight weeks.
Exponent Beauty has developed a solution with its patented technology that preserves ingredients in powdered form. The user activates the powder during application using a multi-weight Hyaluronic Hydrator (Quadruple Hydration Hyaluronic Serum).
This process ensures that the active ingredients, such as Retinol, Vitamin C, and CoQ10, are at peak potency when applied to the skin.
Compared to traditional skincare products, Exponent Beauty’s technology maintains ingredient efficacy and freshness, providing users with more effective and longer-lasting benefits. The materials used to create exponent skincare systems are also sustainable, recyclable, and eco-friendly.
Liz Whitman is the founder and CEO of this startup. She holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Whitman was co-founder of startups like Lewis Albert Design LLC and Manicube.
Manicube was acquired by The Red Door (owned by Elizabeth Arden), where Whitman worked as CMO, President, and Member of the Board of Directors for four years. Later, she worked as an Investment Partner with XFactor Ventures.
Exponent Beauty’s latest seed funding round was on Jan 1, 2021.
Related Read: 3 Cosmetic Trends Propelling Industry Innovation in 2024
4. Codex Labs Creating Skincare Products Using Its Patented Technologies
| Founding Year | 2018 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco Bay Area, US |
| Total Funding Amount | Undisclosed |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Non-Equity Assistance |
| Website | https://www.codexlabscorp.com/ |
There is a need for effective, sustainable, and scientifically backed skincare solutions.
Codex Lab (or Codex Beauty) is a skincare startup focused on creating products that support the skin’s microbiome, manage inflammation, and treat skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
The startup has developed a range of skincare products under collections of patented technologies like the AntuComplex®, BIACOMPLEX®, PreservX®, and patent-pending SHAANTCOMPLEX™.
Its PreservX® preservative system is a patented technology in its probiotic skincare line. This system is based on the fermentation of Lactobacillus, a microorganism that helps maintain the skin’s microbiome balance. Creating an acidic environment and producing antimicrobial peptides ensures broad-spectrum protection while being gentle on the skin.
These products combine traditional Ayurvedic philosophy with modern biotechnological research. They feature ingredients like sulfur and salicylic acid and are designed to be potent yet gentle on the skin.
Codex Labs integrates biotech-based ingredients with clinical efficacy, focusing on microbiome-supporting, skin-gut-brain integrative solutions. The products are vegan, cruelty-free, and come in sustainable packaging. The startup likened its product information to ‘nutrition labels’ for skincare, allowing consumers to make informed decisions about the ingredients and their benefits.
Barbara Paldus is the founder and CEO of this startup. She holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and 40+ US patents. Paldus founded companies like Picarro and Finesse Solutions. She is also a Managing Partner of Sekhmet Ventures.
Codex Labs’ latest non-equity assistance funding round was on March 2, 2020. Target Takeoff was the lead investor in this round.
5. Phyla Revolutinzing Acne Care by Balancing Skin Microbiomes with A Three Step System
| Founding Year | 2014 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco Bay Area, US |
| Total Funding Amount | $3.2 Million |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Series A |
| Website | https://phylabiotics.com/en-ca |
Acne is a complex skin issue that many find challenging to treat effectively with existing skin solutions.
Phyla is a biotech startup creating a new approach to acne care. Its main product is the Phortify Serum, which utilizes a naturally occurring organism called a bacteriophage (phage, for short) to target the overgrowth of acne bacteria.
The clinically proven acne treatment focuses on balancing the skin’s microbiome rather than using traditional harsh chemicals like benzoyl peroxide.
Phyla’s products include the Phresh gel cleanser, the Phortify Serum, and the Phluff Moisturizer. It is a comprehensive three-step System for enhancing overall skin health with personalized skincare and diet plans.
UCSF and the NIH support Phyla by providing research grants.
Yug Varma is the founder and CEO of this startup. He also handles the CTO’s responsibilities for Phyla.
He holds a Ph.D. in Bioorganics from Johns Hopkins University and was a postdoctoral fellow at UC San Francisco. His research interests include microbiome research and synthetic biology.
Yug created the 3-Step Phyla Phage System to offer a clean and effective solution in the skincare market.
Phyla raised its latest Series A funding round on Dec 7, 2023, led by Shiseido.
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Authored By: Naveen Kumar, Market Research
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