Five years ago, two Clariant execs, Yann Chilvers and Timo von Bargen, spotted an inefficiency: the personal care industry’s 3- to 5-year product development cycles, in which nearly half of launches fail due to fragmented ingredient data.
A single skincare product demands 35-40 raw materials, each with ~20 documents on compliance, safety, and sustainability, scattered across PDFs, emails, and incompatible systems. With 80% of products set to be reformulated by 2030 due to tightening regulations (EU Green Deal, microplastics bans), R&D teams are drowning in manual data wrangling.
Today, their startup Covalo has raised a €3.5 million seed extension led by Hi inov, with continued support from HTGF and seed+speed Ventures, to evolve from an ingredients marketplace into the sector’s foundational data infrastructure.
From marketplace to industry OS
Covalo’s platform integrates with suppliers’ product information systems and brands’ R&D and lifecycle management tools, replacing manual workflows dominated by emails and spreadsheets.
When a supplier updates a compliance certificate, brands using that ingredient see it instantly. When a new material is approved, structured data flows directly into formulation and procurement systems. This real-time connectivity creates a shared, reliable foundation that enables faster collaboration and more efficient product development.
Covalo now connects 1,500 suppliers (including Givaudan and Symrise) with 6,000+ brands (including PUIG and La Prairie) across 145+ countries, driving 84% engagement growth in 2025 (1.3M monthly interactions) and a 145% NRR. Partnerships with TraceOne, Reed Exhibitions, and B Corp Beauty Coalition cement its neutral hub status.
Unlike broad chemical platforms (UL Prospector, SpecialChem) or VC darling Knowde, Covalo’s personal care vertical focus unlocked network effects without paid marketing: 35,000 professionals registered, data updates propagating instantly from supplier PIMs to brand PLMs.
AI agents and beyond
Currently, Covalo has 23 FTEs across 11 countries, with 8 women leading marketing, sales, product, and customer success, as exclusively shared with TFN.
The capital fuels industry-specific AI agents for RFI automation, compliance checks, and data enrichment, as well as full PIM/MDM capabilities.
“The next five years will be about activating this unique dataset by enabling buyers and suppliers to bring products to market faster through seamless data flows and highly efficient, industry-specific AI agents,” Covalo tells TFN.
As Alexander Kölpin, Managing Partner at seed + speed Ventures, notes: “Covalo recognised early that the biggest barrier in the personal care industry is the lack of a reliable data flow between suppliers, brands, and internal systems. Instead of getting stuck on search and visibility, Covalo is building a neutral, structured data foundation for the industry.”
