Reome, a UK-based biotechnical skincare label founded in 2023, announced Monday that it raised over £1.1 million ($1.4 million) in an initial fundraising round led by Rianta Capital, the family office of New Look store founder Tom Singh, which has also invested in suncare brand Hello Sunday.
The funding will allow the 18-month-old brand to expand its product offerings, wholesale distribution, and direct-to-consumer business, as well as facilitate partnerships with biotech laboratories to create new ingredients. The brand currently offers three SKUs with a pipeline of 21 additional products. The next launch, a new formula created with the L’Oréal-backed and US-based biotech lab Debut, is slated for January 2025.
”I often say to investors, I may not be a seasoned entrepreneur with 20 failed businesses behind me, but what I do know is beauty,” said founder Joanna Ellner, who started her career as a beauty editor and later worked as a consultant for companies including L’Oréal and Unilever. “I know what constitutes a trend versus a sea change in the industry.”
Reome sits at at the centre of the prestige skincare and biotechnology markets, with the latter looking increasingly attractive to investors as growth in the former slows down. Ellner believes that biotechnology’s potential in beauty “is very misunderstood, both by the industry and the consumer.”
”The real challenge and opportunity for Reome is to lead that conversation,” she added.
Ellner previously raised a friends and family round worth £100,000 ($130,000) before the brand’s launch in January 2023 with a single SKU — a “broth” made with bio-fermented ingredients — and a six-month exclusive deal with luxury beauty boutique Space NK. Reome then launched its own e-commerce platform before then expanded to shelves at Moda Operandi and Formula Fig in North America.
In 2025, the brand hopes to beef up its wholesale presence in Europe, Australia, and the United States.
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