Shiseido Americas acquired MATCHCo, a shade-matching technology and foundation business, creative agency JWALK, and Giaran and AI expert Raymond Fu in 2017. In their first transaction of 2018, Shiseido Americas adds Second Skin technology to their portfolio in the acquisition of Polaris Partners-backed Olivo Laboratories.
WHO: Spun out of “Living Proof” in 2015, Olivo Laboratories was founded to answer the unmet needs in the dermatological field, providing solutions for skin-related medical conditions, through the development of proprietary biomaterials technologies. The company seeks to create benchmark solutions through perfectly engineered products that focus on the skin’s medical and cosmetic problems. Olivo Laboratories was founded by renowned scientists including Dr. Robert Langer, David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Rox Anderson, Head of the Wellman Center of Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Dan Anderson, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shiseido Americas Corporation is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Shiseido Company, Limited. Shiseido Americas’ portfolio of prestige beauty brands includes Shiseido, NARS, Clé de Peau Beauté, bareMinerals, Laura Mercier, and several prestige fragrance brands including Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, and Dolce & Gabbana. In 2017, Shiseido Americas acquired MATCHCo, a technology company, JWALK, a creative agency, and Giaran.
WHY: Combining Olivo’s innovative technology with Shiseido’s research and development capabilities marks a significant leap forward in the emerging realm of “skin shape correction,” and paves the way for the development of products that provide instant and significantly enhanced skincare and sun care.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Masahiko Uotani, President and CEO of Shiseido, said in a release, “Our transaction with Olivo is an exciting next step in our ongoing pursuit to create entirely new categories of beauty products at a global scale as a part of our VISION 2020, middle to long term strategy. Olivo’s ground-breaking ‘Second Skin’ technology will join Shiseido’s already robust innovation portfolio, which includes the personalization technology startup MATCHCo, the artificial intelligence-empowered beauty company Giaran, and our own Shiseido-developed OPTUNE, a digital, personalized skincare platform. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues at Olivo and benefiting from the expertise of Dr. Langer as we continue to reinvent the beauty industry and to create new products tailored to each of our customers’ unique and personal ideals of beauty.”
Dr. Robert Langer, Co-Founder of Olivo, stated, “We use science to break down and tackle problems. Here, we were able to really solve a pervasive problem and create a platform with novel biomaterials. Shiseido provides an exciting opportunity to continue executing on that mission and to further demonstrate the many capabilities of our XPL platform. We look forward to the future when we unlock the XPL Second Skin’s full potential across a range of different applications.”
Amy Schulman, CEO of Olivo, noted that, “We are delighted to work with Shiseido, a company that has the vision, resources and talent to be pioneers in beauty science and to create a new standard for skincare in the beauty industry.”
Marc Rey, President and CEO of Shiseido Americas, added, “As the evolution of beauty-dedicated technologies continues apace, it becomes increasingly important for companies like Shiseido Group to take an external view when it comes to innovation and product development. By joining forces with leaders in scientific research like Dr. Langer and the Olivo team, we will continue to meet the demands of the consumer while offering the very latest advances in science and beauty.”
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