WWD: Prelude Growth Partners Takes Minority Investment In Skin Pharm

The $15 milon investment will help fuel Skin Pharm’s expansion plans.

Investment in the beauty services space continues to heat up, with Skin Pharm, an aesthetic skin care practice that has its own product line, receiving a minority investment from Prelude Growth Partners.

The $15 million investment from the female-founded growth equity firm will fund the company’s clinic expansion plans nationwide and contribute to ongoing product development, both parties said in a statement.

As part of the deal, chief executive officer Maegan Griffin, a board-certified nurse practitioner with plastic surgery and dermatology experience who founded Skin Pharm in 2017, will continue to lead the company.

“Now is the perfect time to take this investment because we have this amazing team, we built a trustworthy brand, and we have a loyal community of customers who are wanting to grow with us,” Griffin told WWD in an interview. “Now, we know that we can grow at a more rapid rate with this capital, while being mindful of maintaining the culture and the quality of care that Skin Pharm has been known for.”

Skin Pharm has five clinics in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee; Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Dallas, with Alpharetta, Georgia; and Houston slated to open in the coming months.

Available services include injectables, micro needling, laser treatments and chemical peels.

The business also has its own skin care line, launched in 2018, which now has close to 20 products, including Crystal Clear Clarifying Pads, $50, Youth Serum, $115, and Glow Factor, $150. Griffin plans to continue to expand its product offering. The line is sold in clinics and on Skin Pharm’s website.

Of its investment, Neda Daneshzadeh, cofounder and managing partner of Prelude Growth, said: “Skin Pharm has created a uniquely differentiated, trusted brand with a quality of experience and loyalty which is unrivaled in the industry. We see long-term secular growth in this category driven by consumers seeking efficacy and results. We look forward to working closely together with Maegan and her team as they execute on their strategic growth plan.”

Prelude also has investments in Summer Fridays, Westman Atelier, Blueland and The Center, among other brands. In 2021, Sol de Janeiro, which the firm backed, was acquired by L’Occitane at a $450 million valuation.

Investment in the beauty service space has been increasing over the past couple of years.

Among some of the deals, millennial med spa Ever/Body, which offers laser facials, Botox, HydraFacial, fillers and laser hair removal, raised a $38 million series B from a mix of investors including Tiger Global Management, Addition and Fifth Wall, and later a $55.5 million series C funding. Last year, Upkeep, an app that allows users to find, book and pay for med spa treatments, secured $2 million in seed funding, and most recently, private equity firm KKR took a “notable” minority stake in SkinSpirit, the largest provider of Botox and filler in the country.

“There’s just more information out there that these treatments can be tastefully done,” said Griffin of the rising popularity of some of these services. “Cosmetic treatments have been around for a long time. But, thankfully, and I think due to social media, you’re able to find like yourself in a provider, right? You’re like, ‘OK, I like that person’s aesthetic. I can see myself trusting them.’ It’s a really exciting industry right now. I don’t really see it slowing down.