Dive Brief
Funding secured: Skincare brand Proven obtains $12.2 million investment
Take a gander at Proven, the brains behind custom-made beauty products, raking in an impressive $12.2 million in Series A funding led by NewH2 Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors, with plans to boost its brands - Proven Skincare and Noteworthy - and beef up the staff, according to a press release.
This ain't Proven's first rodeo; they've managed to pull in over $21 million in investments, with previous rounds including a $6 million seed funding and another $3 million in Regulation A+ funding.
What's Proven up to these days? Well, they've expanded to the UK and Europe, snagged a couple of patents, and teamed up with beauty retail powerhouse Sephora. Not to mention they've launched Noteworthy, their DTC scent brand, boasting a cool $5 million in sales.
Proven's business model revolves around crafting unique skin care and fragrance products tailored to the customer. Both Proven and Noteworthy make use of AI technology to whip up personalized products for folks seeking their very own signature skincare or scent.
AI comes into play when potential customers hit up the Proven website and complete the three-minute quiz, which assesses their skin compatibility with various products, considering factors like changing seasons, skin tolerance, geographical moves, aging, and pregnancy.
Founded in 2017 by Ming Zhao and Amy Yuan, Proven spent two years conducting extensive research drawn from over 4,000 scientific studies and customer feedback from more than 20 million individuals on skin care preferences, a project they've dubbed the Skin Genome Project.
This research has delved into over 100,000 individual beauty products and the effectiveness of 20,238 skin care ingredients. Proven offers a range of five personalized products: cleanser, day moisturizer, night cream, day eye cream, and night eye cream.
Co-CEO, Ming Zhao, had this to say on the beauty of personalization: "Since Proven launched in 2019, we have built industry-leading technology that allows us to create personalized beauty products unlike anything ever available to the public, and this new funding allows us to continue our essential work of making personalized skincare and fragrance the standard. I'm often asked why personalization is so important, and the truth is, none of us would use a one-size-fits-all medicine to cure the body of an ailment. So if we wouldn't take that approach to the rest of our body, why should we settle for basic beauty products that aren't personalized to our unique needs?"
Dive Insight:
The beauty industry has embraced AI for personalized recommendations and virtual try-ons, using machine learning algorithms and computer vision for real-time skin analysis. AI also aids in creating customized treatment plans based on detected skin conditions. Proven, while specific details about their AI usage aren't disclosed, likely leverages similar AI-driven technologies for customer data analysis, personalized recommendations, and a seamless customer experience.
- Proven, the company behind custom-made beauty products, has incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create personalized skincare and scent products.
- The AI used by Proven assists in tailoring products to customers' unique skin needs, considering factors like changing seasons, skin tolerance, geographical moves, aging, and pregnancy.
- In the beauty industry, AI is increasingly being used for personalized recommendations, virtual try-ons, real-time skin analysis, and creating customized treatment plans based on detected skin conditions.
- Proven, led by Ming Zhao and Amy Yuan, believes that personalization is crucial in beauty products, arguing that just as one wouldn't use a one-size-fits-all medicine for health, one shouldn't settle for basic beauty products that aren't personalized to individual needs.
