GetHarley Closes $52 Million Funding Round Led by Index Ventures
LONDON — GetHarley, an online marketplace connecting consumers with clinicians and personalized skin care products, has raised $52 million in funding led by Index Ventures, a backer of Farfetch, Glossier and Beauty Pie.
Billed as an affordable and hassle-free bespoke skin care offering, GetHarley enables customers to speak to top clinicians virtually at a small fee and receive professional guidance on what skin care or treatment they should be getting. The platform also offers concierge services to help beauty clinics deliver personalized products to customers.
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The platform, which is named after Harley Street in London, an area that hosts a great number of top clinics, revealed that it has seen triple-digit annual growth since its launch in 2019 and is used by more than 100,000 patients so far.
With the fresh capital injection, the company is looking to double its team to include 140 people in the next 12 months, and eventually roll out its service across the globe.
“We want to help as many people achieve healthier, happier skin. To do this, we need to reach more skin care clinicians and onboard them onto the platform, allowing us to ultimately deliver better care to more patients and widen the circle of people who can access this expert clinician advice,” said Charmaine Chow, founder and chief executive officer at GetHarley, who added the business could bring services to millions of people globally.
She launched the platform in 2019 based on her own struggle with skin conditions and insight she gained from previous experience in the banking sector.
“Like so many people, I’ve been looking for skin care solutions for various challenges with my skin since I was 15. From acne to post-inflammatory scarring, I found myself wondering why there wasn’t already a central one-stop marketplace that could answer all of my skin care needs — one where I could access a clinician’s advice, get their products delivered, send photos of my skin as it changes,” Chow said.
Prior to launching GetHarley, Chow worked at Goldman Sachs as an executive director, and held various positions at Altice Capital, KKR and Morgan Stanley.
“During my time in the banking industry, I was investing in health care businesses and dermatology clinics in my early 20s. This gave me a unique insight into the archaic and under-digitized world of aesthetic dermatology,” she said. “Combined with my own skin care needs, which felt like a never-ending journey to find products and treatments that truly worked for me, I saw an opportunity in the market. I left my investment banking job to start GetHarley and help others get access to high-quality skin care solutions.”
Chow observed that people often ended up wasting time, money and energy trying to figure out what products and ingredients work for them, and clinicians can also be time-poor and overstretched.
“This makes it impossible for clinicians to reach every consumer who needs them, or stay connected to every patient beyond the first consultation. GetHarley solves all this, giving clinicians an end-to-end platform that enables them to seamlessly make personalized product recommendations, host high-quality virtual skin consultations and provide a 24/7 digital concierge service to their patients. This way, clinicians are empowered by GetHarley to focus on what matters the most — treating their patients,” she said.
It wasn’t easy to convince top clinicians to join her platform at the beginning. She had to walk along Harley Street and knocked on doors to sell her pitch.
“I explained that a platform like GetHarley would help clinicians impact more patients at scale and benefit patients at once. I think the clinicians who joined us early really understood the vision and got on board. Very quickly though, we started getting great feedback and things started to spread through word of mouth,” said Chow.
As of now, the platform works with around 1,000 clinicians, and the most in-demand requests are acne, general healthy aging and pregnancy-related skin care. Acne creams, prescription-grade vitamins as well as SPF are some of the most popular items.
“You’d be surprised how many people struggle with SPF. While it is the product that is most instrumental in most people’s routines, many struggle with being consistent with applying sun protection daily because of the oiliness or white cast that a lot of SPFs on the high street leave on the skin. By consulting with a clinician on GetHarley, they are really able to see your skin and pick out the product that suits your skin type, preferences (tinted or not), lifestyle habits and budget,” she added.
Danny Rimer, board member and partner of Index Ventures, described GetHarley as “a quality champion and partner for both the clinics and the consumer.”
“People are now incredibly savvy about what they’re buying — especially at a time of economic scarcity, when they want their money to be channeled into meaningful purchases. They rightly want brands and experiences that are transparent, authentic and can deliver a tailored service,” he added.
The London and San Francisco-based Index Ventures has invested in a series of companies in the marketplace, fashion and beauty spaces, including Beautystack, Boulevard, Otrium, Goat, Asos, 1stdibs, Anine Bing, and Moleskine.
