Before becoming chief executive of her own beauty startup, Camille Martin had another job title: member of the “Cephalopod Team.” In the lab of Leila Deravi, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern University, Martin studied animals such as squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
In five years, Martin went from dissecting mollusks as part of her graduate degree to raising $3 million for Seaspire Inc., the startup she and Deravi co-founded in 2019.
Seaspire Inc., based in greater Boston with a commercial team in New York City, is announcing its seed round on Thursday, after it was first dislosed in a regulatory filing last week. The money will go towards developing and launching the startup’s first direct-to-consumer line, which seeks to address pigmentation disorders and skin hydration. The three-part skin care regimen is set to launch in the spring of 2023, initially through Seaspire’s direct e-commerce platform.
The new line will be centered on a single key ingredient that is the startup’s secret sauce: Xanthochrome.
Seaspire was a 2020 MassNextGen award recipient. MassNextGen is a five year, more than $2 million commitment to ensure greater gender parity in the next generation of life science entrepreneurs. Each year, following a competitive program, the MLSC awards women-led early-stage life science companies a yearlong customized package of support, which includes non-dilutive grant funding and access to a network of seasoned Executive Coaches from the life sciences ecosystem to refine their business strategies and effectively raise capital.