046 - What I'm Reading: Week of June 3rd
👋 Hello everyone.
🔗 Links in this newsletter route back to my blog or directly to the original content.
⭐️ = What excites me most this week.
💭 A number of acquisitions made big headlines this week, but one that flew relatively under the radar is the merger of Firmenich & DSM (both in the B2B space), which has massive implications for the larger FMCG market.
Other exciting news: A new waterless skincare brand, the business of embryo genetic testing for long lives, a new type of gut microbiome test, a wearable to help manage symptoms of Parkinsons’, olfactory neurons and brain cancer, and the future of supermarket technology.
🗞 NEWS & PRODUCTS
⭐️ NYTimes examines the good, the bad, and the ugly behind PimEyes, a highly advanced AI face search engine capable of uncovering more images than you might expect.
China approved 700,000 invention patents, 30% more than last year, and is on its way to being the innovation hub of the East, already outpacing the U.S. critics point to the lack of rigor in the patent process in China, contributing to the large number of grants, but many still see China’s innovation as a change-maker.
👩🎤 Celebrity Brands:
Back in February Coty announced it would relaunch Kim Kardashian’s KKW line as SKKN, this week the site went live (with a countdown) to the launch of the high priced nine-piece skincare line including cleanser, toner, exfoliator, hyaluronic acid serum, vitamin C serum, face cream, eye cream, oil drops and night oil totaling $630. Already skincare critics are noting the similarity in packaging to the sustainable skincare brand Nature of Things as well as trademarks to another brand. Get ready to be flooded with marketing describing how you too can achieve ultra smooth skin…without stepping foot in the doctor’s office.
🧴 Skin / Personal Care:
⭐️ A new waterless skincare brand launched this week called LightWater Skin. The brand is founded by the former co-founder of Living Proof (the haircare brand) Soo-Young Kang, Dr. Rox Anderson (the creator of Coolscupt) and dermatologist / clinical researcher Dr. Fernanda Sakamoto. They have launched with a day & a night cream powder formulation. The brand is positioning itself using the same story around ‘fresher is better’ as Exponent Beauty. It reminds me of An/hydra skincare, except it is single dose.
Shiseido developed a new skincare brand, Sidekick, for Gen-Z Asian men. The ‘hybrid’ products each offer multiple benefits.
Edgewell is launching its first brand developed in house, Fieldtrip, targeting Gen Z & millennials. The brand will be D2C as well as in Nordstrom & Nordstrom Rack. Products are vegan and include skincare along with grooming and will be $13-$21. The brand is using learnings from Edgewell’ acquisition of men’s care line Jack Black.
Beauty Matter looks at Italic’s expansion into skincare and their dedication to luxury without the price point.
Melmar a new marble skincare line, the first product Carrara No.1 claims to use marble based mineral exfoliants. I have so many questions about this (aside from the actual consumer resonance), is this dust particulate from Carrara quarries or a marble cutting factory, how are they proving this exfoliant is derived from the Tuscan quarries…is this just clay?
love sknn, a new brand launching with a formula for in-grown hairs.
☀️ Daybird offers a tinted multi-benefit mineral sunscreen. The brand is founded by Whitney McElwain & Veena Krishnan.
👩🦱 Haircare:⭐️ T.H.O.M (This Hair of Mine), a haircare brand designed for textured hair, founded by Cyndia Harvey & Remi Ajani launched a scalp serum. The choice to launch with a scalp serum as its hero product stemmed from the deep connection between scalp health and the Black experience. The brand plans to launch two more products in the near future. T.H.O.M. is blending more scientific/plant-active ingredients into their products for greater efficacy and conducting consumer tests (For the Scalp Serum, the product test consisted of 25 consumers and a one-time usage).
👩🦳 Arey, the startup known for its grey hair supplements, has grown its offering into shampoo & conditioner. Positioning itself as anti-aging for hair. The report below by ThingTesting, further dives into the new generation of anti-aging startups.
Rootly is a new consumer brand positioning itself as a hair growth company from Hair Club for Men (Hair Club has a less than stellar reputation).
⭐️ 🇮🇳 YourStory profiles Satthwa, the successful D2C personal care brand best known for its hair oils and hair growth serums that has now expanded cross-category into skin and supplements.
💊 Supplements:
Novos a longevity supplement brand from Ageless Sciences Inc., founded by Chris Mirabile & Kris Verburgh offers two products to reduce cellular aging. The brand’s two different products are an NMN (a precursor to NAD+) supplement (similar to the controversial Elysium antiaging supplement) and a drinkable dissolvable powder including pterostilbene (an ingredient high in antioxidants (found primary in blueberries), along with vitamin C, magnesium, hyaluronic acid, calcium and more. Novos is similar to Elysium, it has a distinguished list of scientific/medical advisors making their name in the anti-aging business, with questionable backing.
👩🔬 Femtech:
⭐️ Genomic Prediction allows parents to genetically test embryos prior to implantation for the likelihood of developing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, schizophrenia and more to maximize the health outcomes. Of course this does not factor in environmental risks, read more in this article published on Bloomberg.
🩸 Zapp a UK based rapid delivery service, created a ‘period store’ for quick access to tampons, pads, cups, magnesium, chocolate and more. With every order of s hot water bottle £2 is donated to Period Poverty UK.
🇨🇳 Chinese femcare brand Fuyanjie, found itself in hot water after positioning its products as a way to avoid dark and smelly vaginas.
Vogue examines the mainstreaming of menopause, and how at-home hormone tests can help to rule out other disorders.
🛍 Retail:
TGD, ‘The Glam Daily’ is a pre-launch gen-z social commerce app founded by Ethel Emmons & Nancy Hernandez focused on beauty, wellness, & the creator economy.
🇨🇳 Alibaba’s Taobao is launching a metaverse mall in preparation for the 618 shopping festival. The malls will allow for virtual shopping through avatars along with other activities.
🇨🇳 Alibaba reported it surpassed 1 billion active users despite the larger China economic slump due to COVID lockdowns.
🇮🇳 India’s e-commerce roll-up Mensa Brands announced it is profitable after a year of operation. Yourstory interviewed the founder, Ananth Narayanan, to learn more about how they achieved success so soon.
🩺 Digital Health: Wearables, Smart Devices, and More...⭐️ Thorne is relaunching its gut microbiome test, with a new format, a wipe.
⭐️ Charco Neurotech, a seed stage startup out of the UK’s Imperial College London, developed the 'CUE1,' a wearable that reduces Parkinsons’ symptoms using vibrations.
♻️ Sustainability: Sustainable DesignColorfix, just raised $22.6M in Series B funding to grow its sustainable, bacteria based dye solutions that could revolutionize the garment industry and beyond.
Shellworks, a biotech startup designing compostable packaging, raised $6.2M to eliminate cosmetic plastic packaging waste.
💸 M&A, IPOs, SPACs...Unilever acquired a majority stake in Nutrafol, the hair supplement brand.
Puig is acquiring Byredo, not L’Oreal as rumored.
Pinterest acquired AI shopping platform The Yes.
⭐️ DSM & Firmenich announced a $3.8B merger, if you use any product across personal care, food, or nutrition chances are DSM or Firmenich has touched it, whether it is the ingredient or flavor/fragrance driving the experience. This story received less press than some of the other big acquisitions, but is worth understanding due to its larger impact on the industry as a whole.
A look at the M&A climate in Korea for Amore Pacific & LG.
🔬RESEARCH
Science: The effects of oral microbiota on health.
⭐️ A paper published in Nature investigates the link between olfactory neurons and glioma formation (the most common form of malignant brain tumor).
Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have shown how genetic mutations over a lifetime can impact blood cell production resulting in different leukemias. It is the first longitudinal study of its kind, and provides the basis for predicting the outcomes of certain blood clones.
🧐 REPORTS
⭐️ CB Insights: The Future of the Supermarket - How technology is making grocery shopping more personalized, efficient, and sustainable.
🇨🇳 Daxue Consulting: The Zero-COVID lockdown’s long-term impact on Chinese consumption.
Wunderman Thompson: The apps catching on with Gen Z.
♻️ BOF: The BOF Sustainability Index 2022.
🧴 Skincare:Spate: French Skincare Trends Report.
ThingTesting: The Next Generation of Anti-Aging Brands.
💡Enjoy,
-Anne