Shampora

Shampora is an Italian direct-to-consumer company that has carved out a niche in the personalized beauty market by offering tailor-made hair care products. Founded in 2017 by Manuel Corona, Irene Gullotta, and Mirco Peragine, the company emerged from Corona's frustration with the lack of individuality in the mainstream beauty industry and a desire to provide consumers with products that cater to their specific needs. The company operates primarily through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model, generating revenue by selling personalized hair care products directly from its website. Customers can also opt for a subscription-based service for recurring deliveries.

The core of Shampora's business is its proprietary algorithm. Prospective customers complete an extensive online questionnaire, answering around 30 questions about their hair characteristics, scalp condition, lifestyle, and desired outcomes. This data is processed by the algorithm to generate a unique formula from millions of possible ingredient combinations. The custom formula is then sent to the company's laboratory in Rome, where the products are created just-in-time, using robotic arms for precision, and shipped to the customer. This process of industrializing personalization allows the company to cater to individual needs without the compromises of mass-market products. The product line includes shampoo, conditioner, leave-in treatments, prime masks, and active waters, all formulated with vegan-certified active ingredients.

Shampora's journey began with its participation in the LUISS EnLabs acceleration program in 2018. The company has successfully raised a total of $3.99 million over three funding rounds to fuel its expansion. Key investment rounds include a seed round in 2018 and a significant Series A round of €3 million ($3.56M) in November 2020, led by CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Italian Angels for Growth, Finbeauty, Gisev Family Office, and LVenture Group. These funds have been allocated towards enhancing production capacity with robotics, expanding its product line, and entering new European markets such as France, Spain, Germany, and the UK. The company demonstrates a vertically integrated approach, managing its own research and development, manufacturing, marketing, and logistics.

Keywords: personalized haircare, custom shampoo, direct-to-consumer beauty, e-commerce, hair care algorithm, bespoke cosmetics, Italian startup, beauty tech, subscription beauty box, custom hair products, vegan hair care, online questionnaire, haircare formulation, D2C brand, beauty personalization, hair profile, custom conditioner, Rome, Manuel Corona, Irene Gullotta, Mirco Peragine