Take Harleya platform connecting consumers with skin care specialists and related products has raised $52 million in a funding round led by existing investor Index Ventures.
Founded in London in 2019 by Charmaine Chow, GetHarley is a telehealth platform that gives anyone a direct channel to qualified skincare professionals, including dermatologists and plastic surgeons, who recommend products and treatments for conditions such as acne, uneven skin tone or hyperpigmentation, rosacea, melasma and more. Online consultations cost £40 ($50) for 30 minutes, but when it comes to more complex medical histories, patients can pay £150 ($186) for a more experienced dermatologist.
Part of GetHarley’s business model involves selling skincare products as part of a personalized plan, targeting specific individual factors, such as whether the individual has dry or oily skin, or how light/dark their skin is. Products can be anything from cleansers and serums to moisturizers and eye creams.
![Buy a Harley box](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GetHarleyz-e1686065474877.png)
Buy a Harley box. Image Credits: Take Harley
Skin in the game
The wider global skincare market stood as a $130 billion industry by 2021, but GetHarley positions itself in a narrower niche categorized as “medical skincare” or “cosmeceuticals,” as they’re sometimes called. These are sort of crosses between cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, formulated with a “higher concentration of active ingredients” than what you might find in a store and often only available through clinicians. This was estimated as a $45 billion industry in 2021.
The size of the skincare market has also been a boon for skincare startups LA based topics And Mother Scienceand Kenya’s Uncover, have all raised venture capital (VC) in recent months to expand their own brand of skin care products.
GetHarley takes a slightly different approach, instead curating established products and using qualified clinicians to recommend specific plans. With thousands of products on the market, many with their own unique story about why they’re the best thing since sliced bread, it’s hard to filter through the noise – GetHarley promises to make it a little easier.
“The skincare industry is inundated with false claims, celebrity marketing, and thousands upon thousands of choices about how to care for your skin,” Chow said in a press release. “Ultimately you waste a huge amount of time, money and energy trying to figure out what works for you. I should know – I searched everywhere for solutions to my challenging skin. And while consumers are being pulled in multiple directions, clinicians are time-pressed and overworked, and you can never quite get a hold of them. GetHarley solves all of this, giving experts a one-stop platform and helping global consumers access the best advice in a crowded market.”
To date, GetHarley has raised about $15 million in funding, and in the four years since its inception, the company says it has amassed some 100,000 active users and amassed a team of 70 — a figure that is expected to grow in the coming year. will double.
In addition to lead backer Index, GetHarley’s latest funding round included participation from Headline, Visionaries Club and Village Global.