How Arcaea Beauty is Reshaping the Beauty Industry with $78 Million Series A and Biotech Innovation

The beauty industry is witnessing a significant shift as Arcaea, a biotechnology-driven beauty company, secures $78 million in Series A funding led by a powerhouse consortium of investors. The funding round includes participation from Cascade Investment L.L.C., Viking Global, OLAPLEX, CHANEL, Givaudan, and Wittington Ventures—signaling strong confidence in the company’s vision to revolutionize how beauty products are created.

From Traditional Chemistry to Expressive Biology

Founded by Jasmina Aganovic, Arcaea is pursuing an ambitious mission: transforming the beauty industry away from petrochemical-dependent supply chains toward a regenerative model powered by expressive biology. Rather than extracting ingredients from nature or synthesizing them through industrial processes, Arcaea leverages cutting-edge biotechnology—including DNA sequencing, biological engineering, and fermentation—to cultivate new beauty ingredients from living organisms.

This approach addresses a critical challenge facing the beauty sector: the industry’s heavy reliance on natural resource depletion and harmful chemical processes. By culturing safe, sustainable ingredients through biotechnology, Arcaea aims to unlock previously inaccessible or entirely new compounds that can deliver superior performance in haircare, skincare, bodycare, and aesthetic products.

Strategic Partnership with OLAPLEX Validates the Vision

Among the Series A investors, OLAPLEX—the publicly-traded beauty company known for pioneering “bond-building” hair technology—stands out as both a financial and strategic partner. OLAPLEX President and Chief Executive Officer JuE Wong emphasized the company’s commitment to innovation: “We are committed to providing cutting edge technology that will help to solve real consumer problems.”

This partnership reflects a broader recognition within the beauty industry that biotechnology-enabled innovation is not just desirable—it’s essential. For OLAPLEX, investing in Arcaea represents a bet that the future of premium haircare lies in scientifically-advanced, sustainably-produced ingredients rather than conventional formulations.

Building a New Supply Chain for Beauty

Arcaea’s business model centers on creating an entirely new supply chain that eliminates dependence on petrochemicals and over-harvested natural resources. By tapping into the “tree of life” through biological engineering, the company can develop ingredients that were previously impossible to access or manufacture at scale.

The company is focusing its initial efforts on hair and scalp care programs, with plans to expand across multiple beauty categories. These products will be distributed through professional salons, specialty retailers, and direct-to-consumer channels—covering the full spectrum of how beauty products reach consumers today.

What’s Next for Arcaea Beauty

With $78 million in Series A capital, Arcaea is now positioned to accelerate its technical programs across key beauty categories, build out its ingredient pipeline, and launch branded products. Incubated through the Ginkgo Bioworks platform, Arcaea represents a new generation of beauty companies that view biology not as a constraint, but as a creative tool for innovation and self-expression.

The convergence of biotech, sustainability, and consumer demand for clean beauty suggests that companies like Arcaea—which combine all three—may define the next era of beauty industry growth.