According to Base, Indonesian women are overwhelmed by the wide range of skincare options available in the market. The startup wants to solve that

Base co founders

Indonesian personalised direct-to-consumer (DTC) beauty and wellness company Base has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by East Ventures and Skystar Capital.

The six-month-old company will fuel consumer growth and recruit talent with the new funds.

Indonesia’s beauty industry is valued at approximately US$3 billion today with skincare category growing positively at nine per cent in 2018, compared to the other categories such as cosmetics. The sector is dominated by global brands with none addressing the diverse skin needs of Indonesian women.

Yaumi Fauziah Sugiharta, former GO-JEK Head of Marketing, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Base. Her skincare blog became popular in 2017 and she received a lot of queries from young women across Indonesia on how to choose the right skincare product for their skin.

She realised there was a real challenge in it.

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“After conducting an internal survey, 72 per cent of women in the country explained how they are overwhelmed with the wide range of skincare options. Furthermore, most products in the market are not specifically built for women in a tropical country like Indonesia and only cater to certain beauty standards such as whitening skin,” Sugiharta explained.

Base was born to remove the burden of choice, by simplifying the product discovery process and get your personalised products using the technology. Our consumers or Base Friends can get a high-quality, vegan, personalised formulation of beauty and wellness product directly from Base website,” she continued.

Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Ratih Permata Sari is a biochemist and former tech product manager at DBS Singapore.

She added, “Powered by data, Base will analyse how the environment and lifestyle are affecting the skin condition. Currently, we are partnering with R&D lab in London and Seoul to help us with product development and thoughtfully produce it locally in Jakarta. With pricing starts at IDR98,000 (US$6.9), we want to ensure that we deliver high-quality products while still keeping it affordable.”

Melisa Irene, Partner of East Ventures said, “Base is building an important innovation in Indonesia’s beauty industry to ensure skincare products are always relevant to local consumer needs. It is a golden opportunity to crack that company can turn the consumer’s sophisticated discovery journey to be personalized yet simple.”

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Abraham Hidayat, Managing Partner of Skystar Capital, said, “We shared Yaumi’s and Ratih’s vision that Indonesian women need a local beauty producer that is focused on their unique skincare goals. With their focus, drive, and enthusiasm, we are confident that Base will be able to make an impact on the Indonesian beauty industry in the coming years.”

Image credit: Base

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