Proven Skincare’s first expansion to Europe offers personalized AI-backed formulations

20 Jul 2022 --- Proven Skincare is expanding its personalized, adaptive and artificial intelligence (AI) backed products from the US to Europe. The company is lauded for its Skin Genome Project, touted as “the largest beauty database on Earth.”

“Personalization is the future of beauty. It’s not a trend. It is what consumers demand. Personalization in beauty is simply the beauty and wellness industry catching up to the rest of our body’s care, where it should have already been,” Ming Zhao, co-founder and CEO at Proven, tells PersonalCareInsights.

“The most important thing is that we respect and listen to customers. You see, most brands in this space lump people together in big groups and talk at them, telling them what they need without knowing about them.”

“Proven does the opposite. We ask about their skin, life, environment and concerns and make something tailor-made to improve their lives. Bringing this level of personalization to women across Europe is a game-changer,” states Zhao.

EU Innovation and beauty“Personalization is the future of beauty,” says Zhao. The expansion comes as the European Commission recently set out its new EU Innovation Agenda, which aims to advance digitalization and secure an environmentally sustainable future for industries including beauty and personal care amid climate and political uncertainties.

“From a consumer point of view, today’s consumers are also not satisfied by the one-size-fits-all concept; they want to see products and experiences evolve to meet their needs,” Sampo Parkkinen, CEO and founder at Revieve, previously told PersonalCareInsights.

Parkkinen says that the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a growing appetite for information among highly engaged beauty consumers who have become more tech-savvy and are willing to dive deeper into skincare education to choose what’s necessary and best for them.

Expanding via data analysis 
The expansion targets the rising demand for personalized skincare across the globe. “This expansion comes after a period of extraordinary growth,” says the company.

To provide personalized skincare for Europeans, Proven gathered environmental data about the regions (EU and UK) and incorporated the data into Proven’s existing AI. This is vital for effective skincare formulations. It is essential to consider environmental conditions, stresses the company.

“Proven was founded in 2017 to provide personalized, adaptive, effective skincare solutions to women around the globe. We got our start in 2019 in the US before expanding to Canada in 2021,” adds Zhao.

“This expansion to the EU and the UK allows us to bring personalized, data and AI-backed products to women all across Europe who want effective and unique products.”

Skin Genome Project
Proven creates personalized skincare products via its Skin Genome Project, which collects consumer data.The Skin Genome Project has a record of over 20 million testimonials from real people. Credit: Proven.

“Proven’s approach has incredibly resonated with consumers. The reality is that consumers are not dumb. They know when something doesn’t work or doesn’t do what it claims to do. By speaking to consumers on their level and explaining our AI and data-driven approach to creating personalized skincare products, we have unearthed a customer base passionate about Proven,” says Zhao. 

The Project includes knowledge of the effectiveness of over 20,238 skincare ingredients and information about over 100,000 individual products (luxury, prescription, generic, etc.).

Additionally, it has a record of over 20 million testimonials from real people, over 4,000 scientific publications, and knowledge of water hardness, humidity level, and UV index of locations.

The company currently offers five personalized products – Cleaner, Day Moisturizer, Night Cream, Day Eye Cream and Night Eye Cream.

Founding and accreditation
Zhao and Dr. Amy Yuan founded Proven in 2019. Zhao noticed her skin deteriorating while working long hours and could not find products to solve her skin issues. She discussed her problems with her friend Yuan who was a Computational Physicist at Stanford suffering from her own skin issues. Together they created a personalized solution, resulting in Proven.

Notably, the company previously received the 2018 MIT Artificial Intelligence Technology Award, Best Use of Technology, at the 2022 Glossy Beauty Awards for its proprietary Skin Genome Project. It reached more than US$30 million in revenue in just three years.

By Venya Patel