Base secures seed funding from East Ventures and Skystar Capital

• Offers personalised beauty products created by technology
• Fully digitised, all products are sold directly from www.base.co.id

BASE, an Indonesian six-month-old personalised direct-to-consumer (DTC) beauty and wellness company, announced on Sept 9 that it has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by East Ventures and Skystar Capital. This fresh investment will fuel Base’s mission to accelerate the growth of its consumers and recruit more talent.

Yaumi Fauziah Sugiharta, former Gojek head of marketing is co-founder and chief executive officer of Base. She started her own skincare blog in 2017 and actively engaged with the community on her social media account. She received many queries from young women across the nation on how to choose the right skincare product for their skin and realised there was real potential in this.

“After conducting an internal survey, 72% of the women explained how they are overwhelmed with the wide range of skincare options. Furthermore, most products in the market are not specifically built for women in a tropical country like Indonesia and only cater to certain beauty standards such as whitening skin.

“We believe that every woman should have the liberation to define their own beauty and have their own unique way to achieve their skincare goals. Base was born to remove the burden of choice, by simplifying the product discovery process and getting your personalised products using technology. Our consumers or Base Friends can get a high-quality, vegan personalised formulation of beauty and wellness products directly from the Base website,” Yaumi explains.

Along with co-founder and chief product officer, a biochemist who was a tech product manager at DBS Singapore, Ratih Permata Sari, this startup aims to cater to a Gen-Z and millennial audience. Base offers transparency, hyper-personalisation, and inclusivity. Armed with tech forward-thinking, Base is creating whitespace for an inherently crowded category. Fully digitised, all of Base’s products are sold directly from www.base.co.id.

Ratih adds, “Powered by data, Base will analyse how your environment and lifestyle are affecting your skin condition. We learn from the skin consultation results from our consumers and adapt our product offerings to meet their needs. Currently, we are partnering with R&D labs in London and Seoul to help us with product development and produce it locally in Jakarta. With pricing starting at IDR98,000, we want to ensure that we deliver high-quality products while still keeping it affordable.”

Melisa Irene, partner of East Ventures says, “Base is building an important innovation in Indonesia’s beauty industry to ensure skincare products are always relevant to local consumer needs. It is a golden opportunity as Base can make a consumer’s sophisticated discovery journey personalised yet simple.”

Abraham Hidayat, managing partner of Skystar Capital says, “We share Yaumi's and Ratih's vision that Indonesian women need a local beauty producer that is focused on their unique skincare goals. With their focus, drive, and enthusiasm, we are confident that Base will be able to make an impact on the Indonesian beauty industry in the coming years.”