Launch Date: April 2022
Geography: San Francisco, California
Founder: Liz Whitman, Founder + CEO
2026 Full Year Projected Revenue: $2 - $5M, according to industry estimates
Primary Category: Skincare
Other Category: Tools/Devices
Funding: Venture Capital
Primary Distribution Channel: DTC
Other Distribution Channels:
Key Retail Partners:
2026 Projected Offline Distribution Points: 80
As former President and CMO of The Red Door by Elizabeth Arden, I worked with thousands of estheticians who mixed skincare fresh before every treatment because actives lose strength over time. Like sparkling water going flat, many actives degrade the moment they're exposed to air, water, and light. I commissioned independent testing of top-selling clinical serums and found some had lost nearly 50% of their potency in 4-6 weeks.
That research led me to found Exponent—the clinical skincare brand innovating on the delivery of active ingredients to create the most effective products on the market. Our patented Activated Serums keep vitamin C, retinol, CoQ10, resveratrol, and enzymes in powder form until the moment of use, then mix with a quadruple hyaluronic acid base. Our HydroGlow Oxygen Ionizer solves a different delivery problem—driving large molecular weight ingredients deeper into the skin via an oxygen-ionized micronized mist. All formulas are clinically tested; clients see visible changes in sunspots, fine lines, texture, and redness in one to two weeks.
We launched in 2022 in the spa and medspa channel and have since expanded into luxury retail at Credo Beauty, Nordstrom, and Bluemercury.
Insights: Liz Whitman, Founder + CEO
Why now and why you?
Why now: The beauty industry has exploded with brands and ingredient claims, and consumers are more educated—and more skeptical—than ever. They've had to play investigative journalist to figure out what actually works, and they're tired of it. They want clinical proof. At the same time, the category is still built around premixed formulas that degrade on the shelf—it's overdue for a delivery innovation.
Why me: I'm a 20-year beauty industry veteran and a serial entrepreneur with prior exits. As former President and CMO of The Red Door by Elizabeth Arden, I oversaw thousands of estheticians who mixed actives fresh before every treatment to maximize potency. That observation sparked a multiyear research journey—I commissioned the primary lab testing that exposed how quickly actives like vitamin C and retinol degrade in retail products—then spent three years building the solution. Along the way, I became a trained cosmetic chemist, a published research author, and a patented inventor, with a BA and MBA from Harvard. My basic belief: Anti-aging ingredients only work if they're still potent when you apply them and if they actually penetrate the dermis.
What fuels your competitive advantage?
Our competitive edge is inventing the most effective, clinical skincare products available. That edge is driven by both our formulation philosophy (to innovate on the delivery of actives) and our innovation process (to think outside the jar). With relentless iteration, we don’t launch products often, but when we do, they are differentiated, patented, and clinically proven.
What’s your proudest accomplishment to date?
A great review in our industry is typically “I like the way it smells; it felt great when I applied it,” not clients talking about drastic, visible changes in their skin. I’m most proud of our client testimonials that talk about stubborn sunspots that have faded in a week and fine lines that are smoothed seemingly miraculously. When I’m having a bad day, I read these to remind myself why we do what we do.
Which is all to say, the accomplishment is that the product works, clients are seeing the results, and they are coming back consistently to replenish. Consequently, Exponent Beauty is running 2x the industry average repeat rate.
What is the one thing you wish someone had told you?
Eat your Wheaties. I suppose it would have been nice if someone had given me a crystal ball look at iOS 14 changes on the horizon too.
What would you tell your past self before starting this journey?
I'm a third-time entrepreneur, so I have the benefit (and the curse!) of knowing how hard and unglamorous the journey is. This time around, I do think I have a better sense for what’s worth my focus and what to worry about, but I have less energy than I used to! It’s an emotional and physical push to maintain the discipline of taking the harder road, not taking the shortcuts, so we continue building a lasting, impactful brand. I would tell my past self to always stay the course.
What does success look like in the next 3-5 years?
Success for Exponent Beauty is the continued love and loyalty of our clients, a tight assortment of clinically proven skincare products, and becoming an anchor in defining efficacy standards for the industry.
What's one industry trend that is overhyped, and what's being overlooked?
It seems that the beauty industry is always buzzing about the latest, shiniest coin: the newest ingredient. The reality is that I’m less excited by the latest nut from the rainforest when we don’t really know if it does anything at all and much more excited about the opportunities to innovate on the formulation and delivery of tried-and-true, proven skincare ingredients—antioxidants, peptides, ceramides—to drastically improve their efficacy.
How do you think the industry needs to evolve?
Instead of certifications that stand for the absence of things ("free of"), there needs to be a standard certification for product efficacy, a definition for what makes a product clinically effective—tried-and-true ingredients at meaningful concentrations, proven by clinical testing with measured instrumentation. In starting out as a research entity and publishing the Exponent Standard framework for product clinical efficacy, I hope that we can be a part of that greater mission and conversation.
If you could wave a magic wand, what one wish would you make for your business?
Less so for the business and more so for the mission of defining clinical efficacy, I wish I could wave a magic wand and immediately educate every single consumer (in one wave of my hand!) on how to spot the difference between consumer perception and clinical testing claims language so that they can demand a higher standard for products from brands.