SVBeautyTech, Silicon Valley’s first independent and fully immersive beauty acceleration program, has selected nine beauty tech startups for its inaugural program, which offers mentorship to high-potential startups.

IgniteXL, a Silicon Valley-based accelerator and seed fund has launched Silicon Valley BeautyTech (SVBeautyTech), which will go up against large conglomerates and retailers, such as L’Oréal, Sephora and Target, who have launched their own accelerator programs.

The program will be independently run.

“Beauty tech is the market that is waiting to be disrupted,” said Claire Chang, Founder and Managing Director of IgniteXL. “We want to be at the forefront of disrupting beauty. The entire industry is changing. Traditionally, it’s been the big beauty brands. It’s no longer one-size-fits-all. Now, with technology, it’s all about hyper-personalization, micro-targeting, real-time accessibility and inclusive beauty. Leveraging technology for scalability to change the way business is being done.”

IgniteXL received applications from beauty tech startups, independent entrepreneurs, and technology innovators from all over the world. Partnering with Draper University, SVBeautyTech’s program consists of an immersive, custom-designed three-week brand boot camp, including individual pitch coaching by venture capitalist Tim Draper, an exclusive private session with Michelle Phan, co-founder of IPSY; Jasmine Kim, Vice President of Marketing, Walmart E-Commerce; as well as access to a vast network of early-stage investors.

“We start with a very specific customer segmentation, and translate it into brand strategy. We also focus on digital strategy: how do you build a digital strategy so that you’re present at every touchpoint? Why you, as opposed to your competitors? How to go from zero to a million customers, get people to come to your site, and convert them?”

Claire, who is Korean American and travels to Korea every month, founded IgniteXL in 2014, after spending many years consulting on general strategic marketing tech opportunities in China, Japan and Korea. Her aim when selecting the first batch of startups was to be as diverse as possible. “Early stage is always about the founder, his or her background, the team, the market opportunity and, of course, the product or services. We want to be as open as possible.”

The acceleration program will culminate in a Demo Day on July 10. “We have invited early-stage investors and industry leaders to showcase our nine founders, their business models, go-to-market strategy, as well as their execution plan for the next six months.”

Claire defines success if the startups land investments within six months of completing the program. As for SVBeautyTech itself, Claire will be looking to raise investment in 2019, in the region of $50 million.

“I am overwhelmed by the support of industry leaders,” she said. “They feel such pride in being part of the first batch of the beauty tech accelerator program. Experiencing that support has been amazing.”

“All of these technologies are pushing access to, data from, and interactions with the consumer to the edges of the network, meeting the consumers where they are. This creates opportunities for brands, both small and large, to get insights into, have conversations with, and generate commerce from consumers in more personalized and in-the-moment ways.”

The startups selected for the launch of SVBeautyTech include:

 

• Baybiotech Co., Ltd is the research and development arm of intelligent skin diagnosis, with the aim of offering customized cosmetics, skin care and marketing link with skin care shops and dermatologists.
• BeautyVise is a personal beauty and lifestyle advisor connecting users, brands, influencers and beauty professionals.
• Cosme Hunt is a J-beauty focused social e-commerce platform.
• ELSI Skin Health is a minimalist, science-based skin care line for delicate skin.
• Fifteen Degrees has patented cosmetic technologies, such as a dissolvable topical collagen film for daily use.
• SkinGenie is the world’s first AI and DNA-based tech platform that offers diagnostics and personalization for skin care, hair care and beauty supplements.
• La Mienne is an on-demand beauty marketplace connecting clients with professional beauty artists to provide mobile beauty services.
• Madam Indigo is an ethnic hair care retailer and service provider.
• YesPlz is AI for fashion search.