Proven raises US$12.2M to grow AI-powered personalized beauty and fragrance solutions

14 Sep 2023 --- Personalized beauty brand Proven has closed a US$12.2 million Series A round. The funds will be channeled toward the company’s brands, which includes the AI-powered Proven Skincare brand specializing in personalized products. Its portfolio also includes Noteworthy, marketed as a “first-of-its-kind” personalized fragrance company.

The funding round comprised existing investors, with NewH2 Ventures, serving as lead investor.

“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 skin care and fragrance the standard,” says Proven co-founder and co-CEO, Ming Zhao.

Earlier this year, Proven expanded into the personalized fragrance space with the launch of Noteworthy, a scent company that reports upwards of US$5 million in revenue. 

Noteworthy is a fragrance brand whose algorithm tailors scents to the consumer (Image credit: Noteworthy).In addition, Proven Skincare expanded its first personalized eye cream system into EUand the UK, which were granted two groundbreaking patents that protect Proven’s use of personalization in skin care, and partnered with prestige retailer Sephora. 

Proven previously raised US$6 million in seed funding and around US$3 million in Regulation A+ funding. The company has reached break-even and will be profitable by year’s end. 

Genomic science-based personalized skin care
Proven creates simple, personalized and clinically proven skin care products at scale thanks to its proprietary Skin Genome Project, which it touts as the “largest beauty database.” 

The Skin Genome Project takes the following data into account various data points in order to craft personalized products for consumers.

These include the effectiveness of over 20,238 skin care ingredients and information about over 100,000 individual products (luxury, prescription, generic, etc.).

The project also spans over 20 million testimonials, over 4,000 scientific publications, the water hardness, humidity level and UV index where you live.

To formulate custom skin care, customers visit the Proven Skincare website and take a three-minute Skin Genome Quiz. Using the answers to the quiz, Proven’s algorithm instantly analyzes millions of factors to select the best ingredients for their skin.

Proven also adjusts its formulations every eight weeks to evolve with the customer based on key factors including changing seasons, the skin’s tolerance to active ingredients, geographical moves, aging, and pregnancy. “As a customer’s skin changes, their skin care evolves with them,” notes the brand.

Proven currently offers five products personalized to customers’ individual needs. The products include Personalized Cleaner, Personalized Day Moisturizer, Personalized Night Cream, Personalized Day Eye Crea and Personalized Night Eye Cream. The products can be conveniently purchased as systems or purchased separately.

Tailoring perfumes to distinct personalities
Noteworthy was founded in 2021. It functions by offering customers the Fragrance Finder Quiz on its website. This test includes a few simple questions about customers’ personality, life experience and individual preferences to create their fragrance profile. 

From the profile, the algorithm is then able to determine their personalized scent recommendations. Noteworthy’s quiz is based on a year-long longitudinal study that was conducted to build a unique database and algorithm based on inputs from hundreds of users.

The Noteworthy algorithm then uses responses from the quiz to build a personalized Discovery Kit, containing four curated fragrance samples based on their unique preferences. Customers can then try their samples at their leisure at home and decide if they would like to purchase a full-sized fragrance. 

Each one of the fragrances in Noteworthy’s fine fragrance collection has been created by expert perfumers for its distinct personality. Noteworthy fragrances are all manufactured in the US. They are paraben, phthalate, and dye-free and are not tested on animals. 

Personalized skin care brand Proven was founded in 2017 and launched in 2019 (Image credit: Proven Skincare).

Noteworthy fragrances include: n,551 – a smokey, amber scent underpinned by rich lily of the valley; n,144 – a bright, creamy vanilla floral citrus perfume; n,307 – a fresh combination of mandarin, basil and sandalwood; and n,743 – an exotic floral amber with rich tuberose and magnolia.

Targeted growth activities
Proven Skincare was founded in 2017 by Ming Zhao and Dr. Amy Yuan and launched in 2019. 

The company received the 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Technology Award, was awarded Best Use of Technology at the 2022 Glossy Beauty Awards for its proprietary Skin Genome Project, and reached more than US$30 million in revenue. 

The company has reached break-even and will be profitable by year’s end, it reports.

With its new funding, Proven is investing in two key areas of growth. The first is to grow both Proven Skincare and Noteworthy, creating new products, advancing their technology and expanding their reach through growth marketing and partnerships. 

Proven will also be growing its team to keep up with consumer demand.

“I’m often asked why personalization is so important, and the truth is, none of us would use a one-size-fits-all-all medicine to cure the body of an ailment,” comments Zhao. “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?”

“Consumers deserve more than one-size-fits-all beauty, they deserve personalized, technology-forward products that actually work.”

Edited by Benjamin Ferrer