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Brooke Sommers, a junior at Florida Southern College, created the personalized skin care startup Dermageneous, which is rooted in genetic testing. The company was recently selected to join a business incubation program at Catapult Lakeland.
In April, Dermagenous also was awarded a $2,500 Catapult Launch Micro-Grant, to support early-stage entrepreneurs.
Sommers is using the money to continue developing a prototype and to assist with applying for a patent, she said, with the goal of eventually bringing the product to market.
The grant “will have a strong impact by helping me advance the company to the stage where we can secure federal funding from future government and research programs,” Sommers said in a news release.
How it works
Dermageneous is meant to provide customers with skin care recommendations tailored to their unique genetic markers, the news release said, utilizing DNA sequencing.
Sommers said it was inspired by her frustration with the beauty industry.
“I could never find products in stores that actually worked for me … I knew I didn’t want to create just another beauty line. I wanted to build something that made skin care more accessible and transparent so people could navigate products and routines that actually fit their needs.”
Dermagenous analyzes “specific genetic markers that affect things like oil production, sensitivity, collagen breakdown, and how your skin responds to certain ingredients,” she said. “By understanding these traits, we can match users with products that are more likely to work for their unique skin needs.”
It then links users to existing beauty products.
The process
Customers order a kit online. They provide a saliva sample by spitting in a tube and sending it back to Dermagenous using a free return label.
Dermagenous analyzes the data and uploads the customer’s genetic profile along with product recommendations to the company’s website or app, the news release said.
Who is Brooke Sommers?
Sommers is studying Business Administration and Spanish at Florida Southern College, and minoring in Entrepreneurship. Sommers, who is from New Jersey, founded her company when she was a freshman and began seeking advice from the downtown Lakeland business incubator Catapult in early 2024, according to the news release.
Is it secure?
All genetic data will be encrypted, anonymized, and stored securely, Sommers said. Users will have full control of their information, and the data will only be used to provide skin care recommendations, the news release said. Dermagenous won’t share the data with third parties without permission, Sommers said.
Catapult’s role
“Catapult has really been there for me in a lot of ways,” Sommers said.
“The financial support from their grants has helped me keep things moving. On the strategy side, their mentors and resources have given me great guidance to make smarter decisions and sharpen my business plan.”
Dermageneous was one of four Catapult Launch Micro-Grant recipients. The other winners were Andrew Logans Chocolates and Confections, Resilient Meals, and Rezilyent. The four were collectively awarded $29,639, according to Catapult.
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Florida Southern Student Has DNA-Based Skin Care Startup
How can we get more information on website or pysical location of this product/service? Can not locate a website for Dermagenous.
Marie S. Borglund
This story is EXACTLY why LkndNow will be a huge success! (If we can cold turkey wedge ourselves from the depressing ourselves from the slow motion political trainwreck now going on in traditional news.)
I see this story and the one addressing our air traffic controller shortage as evidence that positive stories are still going on. I applaud your editor and the whole staff for rooting out the difficult stories but also promoting real world goodness!