Function of Beauty Makes First Acquisition
Function of Beauty has acquired Atolla, a customized skin care and technology business, in its very first acquisition.
According to cofounder and chief executive officer Zahir Dossa, the deal should allow Function to further expand its personalized skin care offerings.
Atolla, which launched in mid-2019, created a patented technology to analyze people’s skin and create customized serums that change over time to meet customers’ needs.
Dossa said Atolla’s patent was “really impressive,” and that rather than building out all the data science internally, it made sense for Function of Beauty to acquire the company.
“They’ve got a best-in-class data-science engine,” Dossa said. “Plus, they’ve got this patented skin care system, which makes it even easier to have a conversation and ongoing relationship with customers. With this acquisition, we get to have the most advanced skin care offering the world’s ever known. That was too tempting to pass up on.”
Atolla’s seven employees will join Function of Beauty, Dossa said.
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“When we were starting Atolla, we actually focused on the technology part first,” said Atolla cofounder and CEO Meg Maupin. “We thought about the architecture of the entire system, how the skin testing would work, how the feedback loop would work. And we started testing skin before we even started developing the products because the data led us to what the products should be.”
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Function of Beauty, in 2020, expanded into skin care with face wash, serum and moisturizer that can be customized in about 3 billion ways, according to the company.
“Our goal here is to create a combined offering together. To take elements of Function and elements of Atolla and create a combined offering that we’re going to launch sometime next year,” said Maupin.
“When I think about Atolla’s mission, it really aligns with Function’s mission about bringing mass customization to the norm,” she added. Atolla’s subscription customers will continue receiving their products, Maupin noted.
The deal comes shortly after Function of Beauty received a $150 million investment from L Catterton. At that time, the business was said to be seeking a $1 billion valuation, and have about $100 million in sales. Terms of the Atolla acquisition were not disclosed.
Function of Beauty also recently expanded to Target, where it is offering hair products with boosters for a semi-customized offering. So far Dossa said it is going well and has led to new customers shopping on the company’s website.
“It just made it really easy for people to really concede and understand what personalized hair care is all about,” Dossa said. “For some customers, they’re super satisfied with what they can get at Target and happy with that level of customization, and others want it all.”
Dossa declined to specify if Atolla’s technology will be rolled out across other categories, like hair, but did say the company plans to “leverage anything and everything we can to always offer the best products.”
For more from WWD.com, see:
Function of Beauty Raises $150M From L Catterton
Atolla Receives Patent for Adjustable Skin Analysis System
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