Beauty Industry Soared in 2022 with Record-Breaking VC Funding Rounds
Between 2022 and 2027, the beauty and personal care market is expected to grow annually by 3.06%. In global comparison, most of the revenue in this market is generated in the United States. In 2022, $87.13 billion was generated in the US and a large percentage of this revenue was generated from e-commerce.
Major advancements in innovation and technology as well as persistently high demand from customers have made the beauty and personal care market one of the biggest industries today. The nonstop race to find the next big thing in beauty has also made beauty startups sell like hotcakes in the industry, especially in terms of venture capital and seed funding. VC investors are leaning towards tech-enabled beauty and wellness products such as beauty-related innovations in AI and robotics, as well as more sustainable products.
Below, we have compiled the top 10 VC funding rounds of US-based beauty and personal care brands in 2022!
(Note: This is simply a sampling of the many beauty companies that have raised significant funding from VCs in 2022; the amounts of funding these companies have received may have changed since they were initially raised.)
1. Revea.
Year founded: 2021
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $6M
About: Revea is a US-based pioneer in precision skincare. The company operates skincare technology that uses cutting-edge science and AI to design precision treatments that suit the specific skin type and concern(s) of each user. Revea recently launched a first-of-its-kind app that allows you to find your skin type through AI technology for which it secured $6 million in funding!
2. Underlining Beauty.
Year founded: 2018
Location: Glendale, California
Funding: $6M
About: Underlining is a beauty and wellness company that develops novel products for various cosmetic verticals. Their three primary cosmetic niches today are nail products, cosmetics & skincare, and brow products. These verticals are under the brand names Nailboo®, Hide®, and Tatbrow® respectively—all under the parent company Underlining Beauty. The company plans to use the $6 million seed round it has raised to scale up its business.
3. The Good Face Project.
Year founded: 2017
Location: San Diego, California
Funding: $5.65M
About: The Good Face Project is an innovation platform that is powering the next generation of beauty to develop transparent, sustainable, compliant, and competitive products. It does this by providing assess to ingredient research, product development, go-to-market and growth strategies. It has also received a $5.65 million seed investment round led by VMG Catalyst to infuse scientific ingredient-level data and insights into its Research and Development and innovation cycle for cosmetics.
4. Clockwork.
Year founded: 2018
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $5.3M
About: Clockwork is a fintech company that is making easy and accurate financial planning accessible for every business through AI-powered financial planning and analysis software. The fintech powerhouse is also disrupting the $800B beauty market by building AI-powered robots to help deliver express beauty services for people on the go. This year, it has acquired more funding to continue to accomplish these goals.
5. Parfait.
Year founded: 2020 (launched as Hairtelligence)
Location: New York, New York
Funding: $5M
About: Parfait is a women-led startup that runs a wig customization platform aimed at disrupting the wig market by integrating facial recognition and AI tech. It operates a direct-to-consumer customization business model, eliminating the need for in-person visits, and removing the costs associated with customization from traditional stylists. The firm recently announced acquiring a $5 million seed round led by Upfront Ventures and Serena Ventures, with participation from Ulu Ventures, Unshackled Ventures, Contrary Capital, Visible Hands, TRUE Capital’s Culture Fund, Omar Johnson, Chamillionaire, Tristan Walker, and Upland Workshop.
6. Arey.
Year founded: 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Funding: $4.15M
About: Arey is a functional beauty brand that focuses on grey hair using a proactive and science-driven approach. Stylishly called the “Wrinkle Cream of Hair Care”, Arey is the first science-focused brand addressing the aging process of hair with a holistic approach. This year, the brand announced that it has closed an oversubscribed $4.15 million Series Seed financing round, more than doubling its original $2 million target.
7. Adwoa Beauty.
Year founded: 2017
Location: Dallas, Texas
Funding: $4M
About: Adwoa Beauty is a modern, non-toxic, and gender-neutral beauty brand and hair care company that caters to multicultural hair textures. The Black-owned brand has created a highly effective collection of products with concentrated ingredients that are backed by nature and science to offer their users immediate and excellent results. The company secured $4 million in seed funding from Pendulum Holdings this year to grow and raise its brand awareness.
8. Trendio.
Year founded: 2021
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Funding: $3.1M
About: Trendio is a video shopping entertainment platform that builds elevated, engaging, and innovative digital shopping experiences in beauty. It is a new video shopping app co-founded by a former Amazon Prime Video executive with the aim of enhancing the beauty shopping experience. Funded by 5 investors, Trendio has raised $3.1M in funding in 2022.
9. Nourie.
Year founded: 2020 (launched as Aja Labs)
Funding: $2.5M
About: Nourie hair is a hair extension brand made by and for Black women. The brand uses plants to create hair extensions in order to eliminate the drawbacks of synthetic strands and deliver nutrients to foster better hair health during wear. After closing a $2.5 million seed round this year, Nourie is embarking on a mission to disrupt the hair extension industry with their healthier alternative to the regular products on the market.
10. ShearShare.
Year founded: 2015
Location: Mckinney, Texas
Funding: $2.3M
About: ShearShare is the number 1 app for daily salon and barbershop booth rental, and the only place offering usage-based liability insurance coverage. The platform enables hairstylists to control how, when, and where they work through the first B2B mobile platform that provides space-as-a-service for the beauty and barbering industry. The company has raised a round of $2.3 million in seed funding.
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