Dive Brief:
- Expanding its executive suite, custom hair care brand Prose has appointed Marie Mignon as its first chief scientific officer, according to details emailed to Retail Dive.
- Mignon was previously the vice president of research and development for the DTC company and has worked with the company for about five years. Mignon is “responsible for setting scientific priorities that align with the vision of our company” and will oversee scientific operations, according to Prose.
- Two former employees in February posted on LinkedIn about being laid off from Prose and the job site also listed a declining headcount at the company over the last 6 months. Prose declined to comment on questions from Retail Dive regarding the layoffs.
Dive Insight:
Prose’s latest C-suite appointment is meant to help further its mission to provide fully customized beauty products with an “alternative to mass production.” Prose sells customized hair care products including shampoo, conditioner, supplements and more.
Prior to joining Prose, Mignon worked at L'Oréal for eight years, which included serving as an innovation leader.
The company raised $18 million during a Series B funding round in 2018, bringing its total funding to $25 million at the time. Insight Venture Partners led the funding round with inclusion from existing investors including Forerunner Ventures and Lerer Hippeau.
The competition for personalized beauty products continues to grow.
In February 2022, consumer tech platform Oddity launched personalized skin and hair care through the SpoiledChild brand, which uses a proprietary machine-learning engine. Personalized hair care company Function of Beauty also expanded its offerings at Target in January with the launch of a styling line.
Mass retailer Sephora added the custom skin care brand Proven to its lineup in January. Proven participated in Sephora’s Accelerate program in 2018, leading to the collaboration between the companies to map out their store and digital launch. On Thursday, Proven launched a sister brand called Noteworthy, which provides customers with a discovery kit of curated samples to help them choose the ideal fragrance option.
