Key Takeaways:Stratum is a dermatology discovery company leveraging AI and over 200,000 real tissue samples.The funds will help scale its SkinSync proprietary AI-powered skin biology discovery platform.Initial research targets include high-value intellectual property for skin longevity, hyperpigmentation, and eczema. Stratum Biosciences, a NYC-based biotechnology company at the intersection of artificial intelligence and dermatology research, closed a $2 million seed funding round.WHO: Co-founded in 2024 by Dr. Ross Lane Pearlman and Dr. Buu Duong, Stratum Biosciences is a dermatology discovery company leveraging a proprietary AI platform and over 200,000 real tissue samples to accelerate development of novel active ingredients and formulations for cosmetic and pharmaceutical skin products. A resident company of Johnson & Johnson’s JLABs incubator, Stratum is solving some of skin’s toughest challenges for global brands with a pipeline of high-value IP targeting diverse needs from skin longevity to hyperpigmentation and eczema.WHY: The company intends to use the funds to scale its proprietary AI-powered skin biology discovery platform, mining over 200,000 real skin samples for novel insights and translating findings into accelerated product development, and to rapidly build partnerships focused on skin biology discovery with translation into novel ingredient and formulation technology. IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “As a dermatologist, I see every day that the biggest gap in skin innovation is our limited understanding of skin biology,” said Dr. Ross Pearlman, CEO and co-founder, Stratum Biosciences.