- LUMASOL founder and CEO Sophia Hutchins recently announced the company has raised $3 million in seed funding. These are the details.
Sophia Hutchins, the CEO and founder of health technology company LUMASOL, announced that the company has closed $3 million in seed funding from Pathfinder at Founders Fund and Greycroft Ventures. Pathfinder is an early-stage investment vehicle of Founders Fund.
LUMASOL is an FDA-approved recyclable product that is going to change the way people view, use, and interact with SPF. And LUMASOL protects from 98% of UVA and UVB rays. Plus the product’s packaging integrates technology that alerts the consumer of UV exposure thus prompting for application and re-application of SPF by making the process more fun and user-friendly. Greycroft partner and co-founder Ian Sigalow told Forbes that the design firm behind Juul also designed LUMASOL.
“The sun is an important part of our lives, and we should be able to enjoy it in a healthy, fun, and safe way. I am beyond honored and humbled to have gained the confidence and trust of some of the best investors in the world. As a 22-year-old (at the time I closed the round) founder and CEO, of a multimillion-dollar pre-product valued company is an incredible feeling,” said Hutchins.
LUMASOL addresses the major problem of reapplication within the SPF landscape. And for those of you that wear makeup, the reapplication is further complicated by forcing the choice of not wearing cosmetics so that reapplication of SPF is possible or only applying it once in the morning under makeup.
Hutchins came up with the idea for LUMASOL based on the realization that more than 3 million Americans are affected every year by nonmelanoma skin cancer each year. While majoring in economics at Pepperdine, she decided to create a solution for the issues around sun protection at the young age of 22.
Hutchins lives in LA and is a close friend of Caitlyn Jenner, according to Forbes. Hutchins had witness Jenner’s battle with skin cancer in 2018. And Hutchins spent a lot of time learning from Jenner’s family members Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian. Plus Nicholas Drake, the executive vice president of T-Mobile, provided advice to Hutchins.
LUMASOL is rooted in the belief that personal health should not be burdensome and it has set out to change the way the world views health and beauty by bringing innovative and tech-driven solutions to enhance the user experience.
With this funding round, LUMASOL plans to expand upon its team. Currently, LUMASOL has 30 employees. And LUMASOL is set to launch in the spring of 2020.
“Founders Fund exists to back exceptional founders, and after my first meeting with Sophia I had no doubt that she would make this company a success,” added Cyan Banister, a partner at Founders Fund. “Sophia has deep knowledge of the suncare space and a clear vision for a product that will appeal to health and beauty-conscious consumers.”
Featured Photo Credit: Sophia Hutchins via Instagram
