Leveraging the promising results achieved, the startup is going to strengthen its international
expansion, according to the boom of post-pandemic e-commerce sales and the new personalisation trend for beauty products
Shampora, a platform that lets you create and buy completely customized personal care products online, has closed a new 3-million-euro investment round. Among the main investors, CDP Venture Capital Sgr, the partners of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG),
Finbeauty, Gisev Family Office and LVenture Group.
The startup completed in June 2018 the Acceleration Program of LVenture Group LUISS
EnLabs, developing a platform that allows you to create tailor-made personal care products, initially focusing on hair products. A virtual assistant analyzes your data (hair characteristics, as well as the specific needs and lifestyle), and processed it in real time through the proprietary algorithm, transmitting the information to the laboratory where shampoos, conditioners and other hair treatments are created: each product is unique, your personal solution out of millions of possible combinations.
In just two years after its launch, the startup has sold over 100,000 customized products in Italy alone, significantly increasing sales in recent months, reaching peaks of 2,000 orders per day. Online shopping recently experienced a boom as an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic (from January to October there were almost 2 million new e-commerce customers, with an estimated sector’s annual growth of 26%) and the customization of products is highly trending in the beauty market, thanks to new digital technologies.
Shampora started in Italy and its growing team, counting today over 20 people, has
established the business in Spain and France as well. Thanks to this new capital increase, it is willing to expand further on the European market, starting with Germany and the United Kingdom. The startup aims to sell over 1 million pieces a year, and in order to do so it has made major robotics investments in its Roman plant.
"The digitalization of sales channels and the product customization are fundamental assets of the evolution of consumption all over the world, since e-commerce, during this health
emergency we are experiencing, is often a necessity rather than an option. - comments Stefano Molino, Head of the Accelerators Fund of CDP Venture Capital SGR - Fondo Nazionale Innovazione - With this investment we are happy to support, together with the other venture capital operators, the growth of an innovative company such as Shampora. Thanks to its technology, it has been able to seize the opportunities in a deeply changing market”.
"Shampora is much more than a simple e-commerce: it has a competent and enthusiast team,
it relies on solid foundations, combining digital, research, product development and industrial innovation. It is time to broaden the horizons and take the market. As IAG members, we are very pleased to provide the startup not only with our capital but also with our network’s different skills, experiences and relationships, to support Shampora in its ambitious growth path", said Roberto Serafini and Marco Graziani, who coordinated the investment of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG).
“Shampora demonstrates that digital technologies are leading today’s market for their ability to quickly intercept new needs and trends. In less than three years after our Acceleration Program, the startup established itself on the Italian market and develop its business internationally, thanks to the team's great execution skills. We are confident that these new investors will greatly support the startup in its international scale-up” said Luigi Capello, CEO of
LVenture Group.
“Making tailor-made beauty products affordable for everyone is our challenge and we are very satisfied with the great enthusiasm of our partners and new investors. We want to strengthen our position as an end-to-end company of personalized hair products: right from the beginning research and development, manufacturing, direct-to-consumer marketing and logistics are all part of an integrated process. We could even come all the way to each customer's home to apply the products directly to their hair, if you ask to do so” said Manuel Corona, CEO of Shampora.