Clean Beauty Startup NakedPoppy Nets $4 Million in Seed Funding

NakedPoppy—a cosmetics startup specializing in matching consumers to sustainable, ethically-made and cruelty-free makeup—has launched with the backing of $4 million in venture capital.

Investors in the brand, founded by Jaleh Bisharat and Kimberly Shenk, include Cowboy Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Maveron, Polaris Ventures and Slow Ventures, reports TechCrunch. (Bisharat serves as the startup’s CEO, with Shenk assuming the role of chief product officer.)

NakedPoppy utilizes a patent-pending algorithm to help customers find makeup that matches or complements their complexion, based on a three-minute assessment and photograph of their wrist.

Related: Clean Beauty Decoded

The site accounts for skin type, color and undertone, along with the user’s age, eye color, hair color, allergies, sensitivities and more, presenting customers with a filtered, tailored lists of the 400 items it carries.

“For us, it’s a personal passion and an area of information asymmetry, like most people know that with the food you eat, you should try to eat organic or as healthy as you can, but you’d be surprised how few women — they just assume the FDA protects them,” Bisharat told the publication. “The idea is to educate the world and help women move toward new solutions.”

Additionally, the company is debuting its own product, a liquid eyeliner.  Additional products are on the horizon, including skin care and, eventually, self-care items.