Hair Regeneration Company Closes $15 Million Series A

Stemson Therapeutics has closed a DCVC Bio-led $15 million Series A financing to advance development of its proprietary therapeutic solution for hair loss. Genoa Ventures, AbbVie Ventures and other investors join in supporting the San Diego-based company's efforts to restore human hair growth with a novel cell regeneration technology using the patient’s own cells to generate new hair follicles.

The AbbVie Venture investment follows an initial seed investment from Allergan Aesthetics in 2020.

The Series A financing brings the total funding raised to date to $22.5 million. The funding will allow Stemson to further the next stage of research and development of its cell engineering platform, where is it being combined with bioengineered material and robotic delivery as a novel solution for natural hair replacement. Currently, Stemson’s research and development efforts are focused on developing an optimized solution for human skin structure environment in larger animal models. Stemson’s Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) based technology is capable of producing the cell types required to initiate hair follicle growth and have been successfully tested in small animal models.

In addition to the funding, Stemson announce dthat Kiersten Stead, Ph.D., co-managing partner at DCVC Bio and Jenny Rooke, Ph.D., managing director at Genoa Ventures, will join Stemson’s Executive Chairman Matt Posard and Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Geoff Hamilton on the board of directors.

Dr. Stead invests in early-stage companies that build novel deep tech businesses in the life sciences. Stead received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Genetics and an MBA in finance from the University of Alberta. Dr. Rooke is founder and Managing Director at Genoa Ventures where she specializes in early-stage companies innovating at the convergence of technology and biology. Rooke received a Ph.D. in Genetics from Yale University and a degree in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

“Almost 30 years have passed since the last FDA-approved hair loss treatment, yet millions still suffer the physical and mental impact of losing their hair each year,” stated Dr. Stead. “Stemson’s novel stem cell engineering platform has the potential to cure hair loss once and for all, treating not only the physical symptoms of this complex problem, but the mental burden as well.”

“The team at Genoa is impressed with Stemson’s vision to blend biology and technology and apply it beyond traditional ‘biotech’,” added Dr. Rooke. “By combining exciting advancements in iPSCs with novel technologies in materials and data sciences, Stemson exemplifies the kind of chimeric teams Genoa seeks to support on their journey to become a category-defining company.”