Skip to main content
May 9, 2023 - Economy

Skin care startup raises $6.2 million to fight hyperpigmentation

headshot
illustration of a dollar bill with george washington wearing a blue clay face mask and cucumber slices over his eyes

Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios

Mother Science, a skincare company founded by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger, a violinist and the guitarist's wife, is debuting its first product aimed at skin hyperpigmentation.

Why it matters: The company, which the pair of world-famous musicians and serial entrepreneurs founded in 2021, has raised $6.2 million in total venture capital (most of it in a seed round last November).

The big picture: Mother Science says it’s a skin care company built on novel scientific research.

  • After Simpson-Einziger developed some light skin patches while traveling, the pair dove into some research and stumbled upon malassezin, a compound produced by Malassezia furfur and other species of that yeast that's naturally found on human skin.
  • After a few years of research, they formed the company and hired Jessica Goldin, a beauty industry veteran and former CEO of Shani Darden Skin Care, to run the venture.

Zooming in: For now, the company’s product will be sold from its website, though Goldin says she hopes it will eventually make it into retailers.

  • The serum, which the company says can also improve skin texture beyond hyperpigmentation, is priced at $89 — certainly putting it into the high-end category of skin care products. Goldin points out that there are much more expensive products on the market.
  • "At the end of the day, I think women really value efficacy and results, and if they buy something and they don't see any results, they’re not gonna buy it again," says Goldin.
  • The company already has more products in its development pipeline.

Between the lines: Mother Science aims to build a brand and line of products around its signature ingredient — much as hair care company Olaplex has done with its own proprietary ingredient.

  • In fact, Mother Science's founders have known Olaplex CEO JuE Wong for years, says Goldin.

Details: Female Founders Fund led Mother Science’s November 2022 seed round. Other investors in the company include: defy.vc, Founders Fund, KarpReilly, H Venture Partners, NewBound Ventures, BFG Partners, Tuesday Capital, Olive Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Hawktail, Drew Houston, John Paul DeJoria, Hedi Gores, Jared Smith, and Toni Ko.

  • The company also previously raised a small amount of capital via a SAFE note.
Go deeper