Dermatology-led skincare brand to expand R&D, product pipeline, and talent base
Chosen, a dermatology-led skincare brand focused on Indian skin, has raised USD 5 million in a Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures, with participation from Bold and Alkemi Growth Capital. The round also saw investment from Avnish Anand and a group of dermatologists, signalling continued investor interest in clinically positioned skincare brands as India’s beauty market shifts toward efficacy-driven products.
The company plans to deploy the capital toward research and development, expanding its product pipeline, and scaling its Centre of Excellence, alongside hiring across key functions.
Founded by Renita Rajan, Chosen builds products for melanin-rich Indian skin using an “exposome” approach, studying the impact of environmental and lifestyle factors such as pollution, UV exposure and diet on skin health. The brand operates a clinic-to-consumer model, combining dermatologist-led protocols with direct product sales, spanning topical formulations and nutraceuticals.
The funding comes amid rising investor attention to dermocosmetics in India, a segment that sits between pharmaceuticals and beauty and is seeing demand from consumers seeking clinically backed solutions rather than mass-market products. However, the space is becoming increasingly competitive, with both new-age startups and legacy beauty companies expanding into science-led skincare.
“Indian dermatologists have contributed significantly to therapeutic dermatology, but personal care has been left behind, shaped largely by market trends borrowed from circumstances that aren’t ours. Chosen is dermatology stepping up to close that gap, built for the Indian exposome and the Indian genome,” said Dr Renita Rajan.
Investors said the company’s clinical positioning and distribution model were key to the bet. “What drew us to Chosen is the rare combination of deep clinical rigor and a trust led go-to-market that few consumer brands have cracked,” said Varun Varma, Principal at Fireside Ventures.
Samantha Etienne of Bold, L’Oreal’s venture arm, said the brand’s integration with dermatologist networks and targeted product development stood out in a fast-evolving Indian beauty market.
Chosen’s portfolio includes its Safescreen, Nexgen sunscreen and the Sculpt protocol, positioned as a clinically validated contour system for Indian women. The company is also building a data-led approach through dermatologist inputs and treatment protocols, though scaling such a model beyond urban clinical networks remains a key execution challenge.
As funding flows into science-backed skincare, the test for brands like Chosen will be sustaining clinical credibility while achieving mass-market scale in a price-sensitive and highly fragmented beauty market.
