San Francisco-based beauty brand JUNOCO has raised $6.3 million in its Series A funding round. The round was led by Vision Plus Capital, with participation from FREES FUND.
The funding will be used to launch a wider range of simple products with ten or fewer ingredients, and also to make 80% of the brand’s packaging refillable.
JUNOCO was founded by serial entrepreneur Kyle Jiang. With his family involved in the global packaging industry, Jiang had grown up witnessing the waste and environmental issues associated with conventional beauty products. As a result, he wanted to develop more sustainable alternatives.
All JUNOCO products are cruelty-free, vegan, and free of microplastics. Additionally, all the brand’s packaging is recyclable and many of its formulas use upcycled ingredients. Currently, JUNOCO’s bestseller is its ten-ingredient cleansing balm, which has sold more than 500,000 units in its first year.
#ToBeHuman
This summer, JUNOCO will be launching a skin positivity campaign called #ToBeHuman. The aim of the campaign is to demonstrate that “true beauty is boundless” by showcasing real skin and bodies. It will seek to normalise features such as wrinkles, acne, and discolouration.
Sustainable vegan beauty
The market for vegan beauty is now worth $511 billion, and is expected to exceed $716 billion by 2025. Demand for vegan cosmetics has been described as “spiralling”, and companies are increasingly turning towards more sustainable initiatives such as refillable containers.
“People themselves are becoming more and more attentive and mindful of their consumption, and for many people vegan cosmetics are the way to make their everyday life more sustainable,” Nadine Steuer, founder of sustainable cosmetics brand Kupfergrün, told vegconomist.
