The announcement came on the news of recent investment in the light therapy device company from key venture capitalists in the skincare and lifestyle products industry, including Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation. SWaN & Legend Venture Partners are investors as well.
La Lumiere has been working to ensure that its light therapy technology products become recognizable and viable on the commercial market. The VC investment $20m series B financing, is a result of those efforts.
"This funding will help our technologies to reach exponentially more people," explained Jay Tapper, founder and CEO. "We're confident in the market potential, La Lumiere's intellectual property and our numerous competitive advantages."
At home devices
The company estimates the at-home beauty device market to be around $800m at present and likely to be valued at several billion dollars by 2024.
"This was an attractive investment for us because of the incredible growth in the market for at-home beauty treatments. La Lumiere is the leader in an emerging field and the only wearable light therapy device with strong intellectual property," said Todd Klein, CIO at lifestyle properties investor SWaN and Legend.
LED light-based therapies have conventionally been available to consumers through spas, dermatologists and other medical professionals.
Aging and acne
To date, La Lumiere has developed and marketed two light therapy skincare products, one each to remedy the results of aging and acne. In partnership with business consultancy Smart Design, the company “has developed a proprietary line of light based phototherapy devices for the personal care market,” according to the website.
Both products are masks that consumers wear at home, are held in place with ear pieces just as reading glasses are. The company’s announcement gave no indication of what research and development will be innovating going forward.