Amorepacific held it’s “APTechUp+ Demo Day”—a specialized incubator program aimed at fostering promising beauty industry startups it runs with Korean startup incubator FuturePlay—on  July 21 in Seoul.
 
APTechUp+ selected five startups last January—virtualive, Biovit, Trove, Paffem, and Reziena—and demo day offered a platform for them to present the outstanding new technologies and services they developed during the training period.  

The five were selection from a group of 110 startups that applied for the program last November.  The five were short-listed after two evaluation steps. Those teams received seed funding, office space, and a variety of training and mentoring programs to help develop their ideas.

Virtualive, which runs Hairfit, a hair information service based on virtual hairstyling experiences. Users can take a selfie using the Hairfit mobile app and see simulations of various natural hair styles. The solution may offer services and products based on hair beauty curation in the future.

Biovit, which has developed an anti-infection coating combined with the human immune system, according to Amorepacific. The firm researches and develops anti-infection protein coating technologies. It’s natural, anti-infection protein coatings consist of proteins found naturally in human skin to ensure safety and is easily applicable to all existing products, boasting the potential for a wide range of potential applications.
 
Trove, which offers a deep-learning-driven skin diagnosis service collects pictures of the user taken with a mobile phone to provide analysis and diagnosis of his or her skin without requiring a separate device. The company plans to partner with beauty brands to provide product recommendations depending on skin conditions.
 
Paffem, which has developed a service called Perfume Teller. It uses proprietary algorithms to help consumers find the perfect perfume to suit their individual tastes. Perfume Teller offers a trial kit which allows consumers to sample three perfumes that suit you most based on the data available, offering an offline opportunity to test fragrance-related products before purchase.

Reziena, which has created an at-home IoT device using High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound, or HIFU. It enables users to do their own anti-aging treatments at home, eliminating the need to visit a clinic. The device connects to a mobile app to assess and record skin conditions and provide personalized services. 

The program is seen as a more effective model than direct investments in startups as it affords the new companies chances to leverage the business capabilities and infrastructure of an established company together with the incubator’s expertise in nurturing startups, said Amorepacific.
  
Amorepacific will continue to provide support to the five startups, giving them the opportunity to gain financial and operating independence while evaluating their performance to determine which will receive a second round of investment and the opportunity to participate in strategic tie-ups with Amorepacific.
 
“We deeply appreciate the beauty tech startups who joined APTechUp+, the first beauty startup incubator program in Korea, and many stakeholders for their interest and effort,” said Paul Kang, executive vice president of Amorepacific’s marketing strategy unit. “Amorepacific will continue to lead the innovation of the beauty market by actively converging beauty and digital technology.”