Rhodium, a data and machine learning platform for spas, has acquired three beauty and wellness companies—SiO Beauty, Rootine and Solomomo—for undisclosed prices to expand its suite of offerings to spas.
The three brands share investors with Rhodium, which Michael Hyman started last year. Hyman was formerly CEO and co-founder of Petabyte Technology, a veterinary management software company that sold to Chewy in 2022 for over $43 million. Loeb.nyc, a venture capital firm founded in 2006 by Michael Loeb, co-founder of Synapse, a media subscription marketer acquired by Time Warner, is a key investor in Rhodium and previously backed SiO Beauty, Solomomo and Petabyte. Fourteen-year-old health and wellness VC firm Relevance Ventures is another investor in Rhodium, and it previously backed Rootine and Petabyte.
“I have spent the past year speaking to different investors, VCs and companies. It was really important to find a place where my team and I can continue innovating and bringing the product to more people,” says Audrey Leibovich, who’s joined Rhodium as GM of SiO Beauty after acting as interim CEO of the brand. “So, when Michael introduced me to the Rhodium team, because he knew Michael Hyman, there was immediate trust that made everything go much smoother.”
Rhodium’s acquisitions of SiO Beauty, Rootine and Solomomo put it at the intersection of beauty and aesthetics that’s heating up, as evidenced by L’Oréal securing a 10% stake in dermatology company Galderma last year, according to Cindy Engstrom, founder of Solomomo, a not-yet-released device monitoring product efficacy and skin health, and the newly appointed CMO of Rhodium. She’s been building Solomomo since 2018 and raised almost $3 million for it prior to its sale to Rhodium. The device is expected to be ready for mass production at the end of the year and be priced at roughly $149, plus additional monthly fees for its SaaS integration.
“I want to be on every bathroom counter. That is my vision so that people can track their skin health,” says Engstrom. “There’s data collected by injectors and derms that are evaluating it in different settings, but Solomomo is really enabling people to have objective data to manage their skin health [at home].”
Gigi Howard, an ex-model and publicist, launched SiO Beauty with wrinkle patches in 2014 after noticing wrinkles on her chest and seeking an alternative to injectables to address them. She’s remaining with the brand in a founder and marketing capacity. Before her most recent stint as interim CEO of SiO Beauty, Leibovich was CEO of the brand from 2017 to 2022. She has also been president of Costa Brazil and VP of digital marketing at Hudson’s Bay Co.
Direct-to-consumer distribution drives a majority of its SiO Beauty’s sales, and the brand is available beyond DTC in Bluemercury stores and online at CVS, Target, Niche Beauty and Amazon. Its wrinkle patches are priced on average at $30, and bestsellers include Necklift, Chestlift and Facelift. Along with the patches, SiO Beauty’s selection contains topical skincare and a tool inspired by cryotherapy. Following earlier triple-digit growth, Leibovich says the brand has reached “several million” in sales and recently its growth has tempered as it’s zeroed in on improving profitability through streamlining its paid advertising and marketing primarily through Google Ads, micro-influencers and brand ambassadors.
“We’re really focused on making sure that our customer has a great experience.”
Rootine founder Rachel Sanders has been named GM of the brand at Rhodium. Established in 2018, Rootine began with DNA testing and a genomic algorithm to customize vitamin subscriptions. Aside from an online quiz, the customization elements have been phased out. Rootine’s assortment has three supplement powder drink mixes—Stress, Sleep and Focus—priced at $24.99 for a 10-pack and $44.99 for a 24-pack. The brand is sold in DTC and on Amazon. Preceding the Rhodium deal, it raised around $15 million in funding.
Rhodium has signed 75 med-spas on to its platform, and Engstrom envisions it signing on hundreds more soon as it shows proof of concept helping spas increase revenues. Competition in med-spa sector has been ramping up as private equity funding inundates it and leading chains multiply locations. Market research firm IBISWorld estimates there are approximately 20,000 spas in the United States, and Precedence Research projects the med-spa segment will accelerate at a compound annual growth rate of 14.9% to go from $6.45 billion in sales this year to $25.84 billion by 2034.
While Rhodium is in the process of finalizing its pricing, Engstrom estimates it will charge spas under $1,500 a month for access to its technology. As they access the technology, they’ll be introduced to Rootine, SiO Beauty and Solomomo.
“We have millions and millions of data points from all the med-spas that we’ve looked at, and we can see that, if someone comes in and has laser hair removal, here’s all the other things they might do,” says Engstrom. “If we were to move then one notch over and get them on a laser treatment from their face program, that could be a difference of $8,000 in lifetime value.”
Despite Rhodium’s spa target, Rootine and SiO Beauty are sticking with and aiming to extend distribution outside of the spa channel. Rhodium is tapping Sanders and Leibovich’s expertise navigating the wellness and beauty industries that isn’t widespread at it. All told, the company has roughly 30 employees.
“A lot of the Rhodium folks are tech people,” says Leibovich. “I think we’re going to have to learn each other’s language and the importance of what each of us do, but ultimately, even though they’re tech people, they still want to deliver a great experience to the customer, so we have that in common. We’re really focused on making sure that our customer has a great experience.”
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