New York–based startup EpigenCare Inc., a personalized skincare company, has been named by Johnson & Johnson Innovation as a finalist in its Digital Beauty Quickfire Challenge that will conclude on March 27th at the JLABS technology center in San Francisco, CA. EpigenCare is a digital biotechnology company that offers a direct-to-consumer epigenetics test to assess the dynamic state of one’s skin type and quality.
The Quickfire Challenge seeks innovative and future-forward digital beauty solutions. Entrants are tasked to identify, recognize, and support these solutions through the creation of tools that simplify product selection and help build regimens that empower consumers to make better informed skincare choices.
EpigenCare’s selection as a finalist in the competition recognizes its direct-to-consumer skincare test that assesses the current state of an individual’s skin by assessing epigenetic markers associated with quality indicators. They include aging, elasticity, moisture, pigmentation, among others.
As explained in the press statement, “epigenetics is the study of biological mechanisms (e.g., DNA methylation) that could activate or deactivate a gene’s function over time. Since a person has the same genes throughout his or her entire life, only epigenetic — rather than genetic — profiling could accurately reflect the dynamic and current state of one’s skin.”
EpigenCare is also working on a digital platform that enables skincare companies to match their products to consumers on a personalized basis. The matching process is done via a recommendation algorithm based on the epigenetic effects of product ingredients on the consumers’ tested epigenetic markers of their skin. The company is implementing blockchain technology that gives consumers their own blockchain transaction ID to protect their privacy.
EpigenCare’s innovation goes further in that it will implement machine learning with its epigenetic data in combination with photo imaging of skill achieve an artificial intelligence based personalization method.
Quickfire Challenge winners will receive a $50,000 grant and access to a network of experts, residency for up to one year at JLABS incubator, and admission to a Johnson & Johnson Consumer Experience Center (CxC). They also will be able to design and deploy a research initiative through the CxC.
