SkinRun Secures Tens of Millions RMB in Pre-A+ Round Led by Kairous Capital

Recently, Skin Steward, which entered the beauty industry’s big data market with its intelligent skin analysis device, announced that it had secured tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A+ round financing. The round was led by Kairous Capital, with participation from BW Capital. The funds will be used to upgrade the next generation of intelligent detection devices, enhance its big data laboratory, and strengthen team building.

SkinRun, the Skin Care Big Data Service Platform, features industry-leading AI skin analysis technology and is dedicated to providing next-generation data analytics and business intelligence (BI) solutions based on user skin information for clients in new retail beauty, new medical aesthetics, the broader internet sector, and comprehensive beauty groups.

Pioneered a comprehensive methodology for implementing an end-to-end pathway from BI (agile analytics) to AI (intelligent decision-making), based on user skin samples and product efficacy data. This approach deeply integrates artificial intelligence with physical retail scenarios, building an intelligent decision-making brain for beauty industry enterprises, vigorously promoting the successful transformation from traditional BI to intelligent BI, and empowering the industry’s digital upgrade through technological innovation.

On the front end, Skin Manager connects a large number of stores and customers through digital means, integrates with the terminal consumption scenario processes of the beauty industry, and helps enterprises conduct precise R&D support, sales, and marketing through continuous data accumulation.

Unlike traditional business intelligence, SkinRun leverages user skin samples and intelligent data analysis to provide clients with actionable decision-making recommendations. This helps beauty industry enterprises build sustainable competitive advantages during their digital and intelligent transformation. SkinRun has successively served dozens of domestic and international brands, including L'Oréal, Unilever, Henkel, Jiaolan Jiaren, Xiuyu, Shilanting, and Chengxiaocheng.

Concurrently with the completion of this funding round, Skin Steward officially announced the launch of SkinRun Lab, an AI-powered skin algorithm engine, and SkinRun Link, an open platform providing skin analysis and diagnostic services. By offering open APIs and AI computing power, the company aims to co-build a digital economic ecosystem for the beauty industry.

The detection device dimensions for the B-side and C-side of Skin Manager can be expanded according to different scenario requirements. Meanwhile, thanks to AI’s self-learning capabilities, the accuracy of intelligent skin analysis continues to improve as the number of users increases. Currently, the detection accuracy rate exceeds 96%. All of this is supported by the robust infrastructure of SkinRun Lab.

R&D on the Skin Manager algorithm began as early as 2012. Last June, the Skin Manager Algorithm Center, SkinRun Lab, was officially established in Hangzhou under the leadership of Professor Xuan Qi, a doctoral supervisor at Zhejiang University of Technology. The team has secured more than ten exclusive patents, including algorithms for age analysis from skin images, detection of skin pigmentation, and image-based methods for evaluating cosmetic efficacy.

As of now, Skin Manager has accumulated over 2 billion skin data entries and more than 700,000 full-face skin cases, holds over 30 patents, and maintains close collaborations with Huashan Hospital, the Department of Dermatology at Shanghai Putuo District Central Hospital, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 2019, Skin Manager launched the SkinRun Link open platform, providing AI algorithm services and solutions to partners. Currently, it offers a range of products including photo-based skin analysis, professional AI skin analysis, contact-based skin detection (moisture, oil, elasticity), and multispectral high-definition skin detection, covering more than ten detection dimensions. Partners can access SkinRun Link’s algorithm services via API calls or SDK integration, enabling integration into various devices to achieve hardware operation and data analysis capabilities. Additionally, Skin Manager can customize data solutions based on clients’ business scenarios and requirements.

In August 2019, a delegation from the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) visited Skin Manager’s Shanghai headquarters, extending a sincere invitation for the company to enter the Southeast Asian market. Within just one month, the Skin Manager team traveled to Southeast Asia in September and, with resource support from Kairous Capital, established an operations center in Kuala Lumpur to oversee regional business across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other countries. The company has since formed strategic partnerships with leading local beauty e-commerce platforms.

Kairous Capital, the investor in this round, is a leading cross-border venture capital fund in the Asia-Pacific region, with its investment portfolio primarily focused on China and Southeast Asia. The firm specializes in fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and e-commerce. Its investment portfolio includes iPayLinks, Dashu Bao, and Lanxinkang.

BW Capital is the angel investor of Skin Manager. Since its establishment over four years ago, it has invested in more than 100 companies, including KEEP, Gecko Auto Insurance, Zhenhe Technology, Everyone Is a Product Manager, and Huiling Technology.