London, UK – October 11, 2021 -- Sequential Skin Ltd, a UK/Singapore biotech start-up has raised US $1.65M in its oversubscribed seed round – to revolutionise the future of skin health.
The round was led by Metaplanet, and supported by Scrum Ventures, SOSV, Genedant, and angel investor, Ben Holmes (ex. General Partner at Index Ventures). This latest investment brings the total venture funding raised by Sequential Skin to US $2.15M in 2021.
The investment will be used to extend their B2B offering to skincare, haircare and healthcare companies, adding to the twelve major clients currently using Sequential Skin. Sequential Skin will also be rolling out their consumer product, with a focus on expanding into the US via New York City.
“The world of skincare is flooded with a confusing array of products that only help some of the people, some of the time,” said Rauno Miljand, Metaplanet Managing Partner. “We’re proud to lead the investment in Sequential Skin. It is the first company, using genomics and microbiome skin assays, that identifies to consumers the exact products suited for each individual."
$50Bn is spent on skincare products per annum in the US. Despite the value of mass marketed skincare products, the only way to truly understand skin health and create personalisation, is to understand your genetic predispositions and your skin microbiome. Consumers are demanding better solutions. Understanding these biomarkers allows for not only personalised skincare, but the ability to discover novel targets to treat skincare disease like atopic dermatitis.
“We now have significant traction in assembling an extensive dataset on skin types from Asia, Europe and the US—a great chance for us to discover novel biomarkers for skin conditions in different populations.” said Dr Oliver Worsley, CEO and cofounder.
The funding will significantly boost their IP portfolio, using their novel patch-based, skin analysis, to develop further tools to understand how your genetics, epigenetics and skin microbiome, affect health and disease. Dr Albert Dashi, CSO and cofounder, added: “Our scope is to provide science to people and empower them with the right tools and knowledge so they make the right decision for the future of their skin health and well-being”.
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Contacts: Dr Oliver Worsley, CEO & cofounder – oliver@sequentialskin.com
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About the investors:
SOSV is a global venture capital firm providing multi-stage investment to develop and scale our founders' big ideas for positive change. They also have the world’s leading life science accelerator, IndieBio, and this investment represents a follow-on to their original pre-seed investment.
“Until now, trying to improve your skin’s health and longevity has been a trial-and-error process, effectively doing chemistry experiments on your face,” said Sean O’Sullivan, General Partner at SOSV. "With Sequential Skin, individuals now have the ability to zero in on the right treatments to quickly optimize skin health.”
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Metaplanet is an international early-stage investment firm based in Estonia making long-term bets on contrarians and leveraging the knowledge and network across sectors. They have invested in several leading healthcare companies, including some of the world’s pioneering microbiome start-ups.
“With Sequential Skin, users can get an insightful and deep understanding of their skin state and what is needed to satisfy the demands that their surrounding environment and lifestyle poses on their skin. We were impressed by the Sequential Skin team and it seems one of the most promising personalized skincare companies currently on the market.” - Rauno Miljand, Managing Partner, Metaplanet
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Scrum Ventures is a seed-stage venture firm investing across a range of industries in the U.S. and Japan. Based in San Francisco with extensive experience and networks in both Silicon Valley and Japan, Scrum Ventures accelerates portfolio companies with global opportunities. Scrum Studio is a platform that connects global corporations with start-ups.
"Sequential Skin's upside to disrupt the personalized skincare space is significant. The product is easy to use, provides comprehensive insights and has value in D2C, clinical testing and B2B product validation use cases.
The company's at-home genetic and microbiome test kit has the potential to reach more consumers than any other personalized skincare company in the market. We are fortunate to partner with such a promising company and team." – Tak Miyata, Founder & General Partner, Scrum Ventures.
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Genedant is a venture capital firm that invests in emerging life science and technology which challenge conventional thinking of what is possible. The Singapore-based investment firm backs visionary thinkers, academics and clinicians who are never satisfied with the status quo and who are always seeking to improve on our current reality. Genedant takes long-term bets and risks on scientific and technological ideas even when they are at an early stage.
“The genetic and microbiome profile on everyone’s skin is unique, much like a molecular fingerprint. What Sequential Skin brings is an ability to truly understand what our skin needs and make a personalised recommendation. For instance, they can identify an unbalanced profile of Cutibacterium acnes and point a teenager to the most appropriate active ingredient. Genedant is excited to be part of Sequential Skin’s journey and share their dream of bringing better skin to consumers through knowledge.” - Chen Yiren, Managing Director, Genedant
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Ben Holmes is an angel investor and was previously a General Partner at Index Ventures for just over 14 years. He has extensive experience in early-stage tech start-ups and was until recently a Director of Just Eat which listed on London Stock Exchange in 2014 and iZettle until its sale to PAYPAL and Trustpilot up to its IPO in 2021.
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About Sequential Skin
Sequential Skin is a team of award-winning scientists with a mission to empower individuals to make better-informed decisions about their skin health. The Sequential Skin test is the product of the team’s combined expertise in molecular science, genetics and microbiome research. They use deep molecular analysis and next-generation sequencing technology to understand the combined impact of an individual’s genes and their local environment on their skin. Solving major skin conditions where traditional treatment remain generic. They are supported by Enterprise SG, A*STAR, Genome Institute of Singapore, IndieBio New York, SOSV, EFL (NYU Stern business program), and a resident company of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS.