Function of Beauty started in 2015 with $100,000 raised between the three founders and their family and friends. The company, which offers fully customizable hair care, body wash, and skin care products online exclusively at Target, quickly grew beyond its initial expectations and desired to expand its product lines. Function of Beauty raised $150 million from a series B funding round in December 2020 for this purpose.

L Catterton, a private equity firm from Connecticut, led the December 2020 round of series B funding. This marked the first time L Catterton had provided funding to Function of Beauty. GGV Capital and Circle Up, both of whom had contributed to past funding efforts, also participated in the $150 million funding effort.

The Story of Function of Beauty

Zahir Dossa, the current chief executive officer and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the original company founder. He quickly brought in Joshua Maciejewski, who also graduated from MIT, to serve as the chief operations officer for Function of Beauty. Hien Nguyen Kaplan currently acts as the company’s chief science officer.

After its launch in 2015, Function of Beauty developed and built two production facilities from the ground up in Pennsylvania. Company leadership took this unusual step because they could not find any existing facilities that met their needs or that would allow them to scale at their desired pace. The customized beauty company premiered its flagship hair care product line in 2016.

Dossa’s mission when starting Function of Beauty was to make customized hair care, skin care, and body wash products available to a broader population of people. He admits that he went into business partly out of a deep dislike for the traditional beauty industry and his desire to disrupt it. Prior to the Function of Beauty launch, Dossa had developed another brand called The Argan Tree. The line of argan-infused oils scaled quickly, and Dossa soon signed an agreement with Whole Foods to sell The Argan Tree brand.

How Customers Create Their Own Formula for Beauty Products

Consumers wanting to purchase Function of Beauty’s hair care or skin care product lines can take a quiz to help them determine which ones would work best for them. The company has just one body care product at this time.Customers start the quiz by selecting their hair type. The options include curly, coiled, wavy, and straight. From there, they choose up to three hair goals such as reducing frizz, adding moisture, or repairing split ends. People also get to select their color and fragrance preferences.

After completing the quiz, consumers received custom recommendations for shampoo, conditioner, and hair support products called booster shots. The company’s website uses an artificial intelligence algorithm programmed by Dossa, Maciejewski, and other scientists trained at MIT. Customers receive a package a short time later containing their customized shampoo, conditioner, and booster shots. The original package costs $49, and people are under no obligation to continue monthly deliveries. Those who do continue shipments receive larger product bottles with their second and subsequent deliveries.

L Catterton Partner Comments on Recent Funding for Function of Beauty

Avik Pramanik is a partner at L Catterton, the leading equity company for the December 2020 Series B funding round. He expressed admiration for Function of Beauty achieving mass customization with its products within a year of its launch. Pramanik spoke as a representative for L Catterton when he stated that the equity company is excited to partner with Function of Beauty leadership to grow the brand. As a prominent funder, L Catterton anticipates helping the company gain shares in domestic markets and breaking into more international markets.

Dossa stated that Function of Beauty intends to use the latest funding round to expand its manufacturing space, create additional products, and develop a stronger international presence. Function of Beauty currently sells directly to consumers in 45 countries.

About Function of Beauty

Function of Beauty has committed to using only natural ingredients to create its product line. Ingredients are 100 percent vegan and contain no parabens or sulfates. Although the company is based in the United States, it voluntarily adheres to the European Union safe cosmetics regulations. The United States Food and Drug Administration bans only 11 ingredients for use in beauty products while the European Union bans more than 1,400 potentially harmful ingredients.

One key to Function of Beauty’s success has been its relationship with social media influencers like Kim Kardashian, who post pictures of themselves using Function of Beauty products. These influencers then offer their millions of followers a promotion code to save money on their first order.

Zahir Dossa expects personalization to be the norm in the beauty products industry within the next 10 to 20 years. He states that his company has led the way because it created the means and capacity to do so. Soon consumers will settle for nothing less than beauty product personalization, and competitors will find themselves scrambling to catch up to Function of Beauty.

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