SV Labs Creates Launch Lab Manufacturing Platform To Help Brands Capitalize On Buzz

For beauty brands, the race to stay relevant is faster than ever.

TikTok-driven micro-trends, influencer collaborations and limited-run drops can explode in hours, leaving them scrambling to keep pace. E-commerce now accounts for roughly 41% of American beauty and personal care sales, and TikTok Shop has already climbed to the No. 8 spot among health and beauty retailers in the United States, according to market research firm NielsenIQ. In this high-velocity environment, companies must be able to launch, scale or pivot at a moment’s notice.

Launch Lab from contract manufacturer SV Labs is a practical answer to that pressure, promising new products in as little as 12 weeks. The program trades blank-page formulation for a library of pre-vetted bases—tablets, hot-pour sticks, prestige haircare and more—that brands can customize with the help of SV’s research and development team.

“We developed Launch Lab to meet the pace of modern beauty,” says Julie Ann Lemke, chief revenue officer at SV Labs. “Whether it’s a viral moment on TikTok or a surprise retail opportunity, brands today can’t afford to wait six months for product development.”

Minimum order quantities start at around 5,000 units, making the service accessible for emerging labels and fast-growing players alike. Launch Lab’s streamlined setup lends itself to limited-edition drops, gifts-with-purchase and quick portfolio fills. Lemke recalls an Ulta Beauty-stocked brand that won end-cap space before it had a formula or packaging, and with SV’s expertise and speed, it hit the tight deadline. 

Lemke remembers, “It was just an idea that came up, and Ulta said, ‘Yes, let’s have it on shelves by April 1st.’” 

Formulas in Launch Lab’s library are grouped into three tiers—essential, premium and luxe—and most meet Target and Sephora’s clean ingredient guidelines, with many clearing Credo Beauty’s stricter bar. “Even though you’re starting with a Launch Lab formula, what goes to market is almost never off the shelf,” says Nick Rose, who leads sales at SV. “Our team fine-tunes texture, swaps in hero ingredients and helps align the product with a brand’s ethos.”

Each client works with a single project manager who coordinates across SV’s four North American plants in California, Wisconsin and, most recently, Sigan Industries in Toronto. The Canadian site deepens SV’s capabilities in prestige haircare, skincare and over-the-counter products, while giving brands another lever for risk management.

“It used to be about shopping for the lowest quote,” says Lemke. “Now, it’s about finding the right partner who can evolve with you, who understands your speed, vision, brand DNA and, most importantly, can help derisk your product development process in these unprecedented times.”

Waterless formats—shampoo bars, deodorant sticks—and expanded haircare offerings are next on Launch Lab’s agenda along with pre-vetted packaging designed to eliminate yet another bottleneck on the path from concept to shelf. Tariff shifts and shipping bottlenecks have only sharpened that need. By producing the same base formulas at multiple locations and relying on multifunctional, readily available raw materials, SV can reroute production if duties spike or supply chains wobble.

Lemke says, “Launch Lab was built to help brands move faster, but, in today’s trade environment, it’s also about helping them stay flexible, protected and scalable.”

Investors see the speed angle as a competitive wedge. “Speed-to-market and pace of innovation are perhaps the most important structural advantages that emerging independent brands have over the major CPG companies,” says Scott Potter, managing partner at San Francisco Equity Partners, an indie beauty brand investor and owner of SV Labs. “Launch Lab will be a great tool for up-and-coming brands to take advantage of buzz and momentum by rapidly expanding their product assortments with high-quality, bespoke, on-brand extensions that can be in-market at scale in as little as 12 weeks.”

Learn more about Launch Lab and SV’s core capabilities here or contact them at info@svlabs.com to get started.