The London-based online dermatology service, ZappedSkin, is today announcing receiving £220k financing from the UK VC Jenson Funding Partners. This funding will enable the health tech to build on its success in providing remote acne consultation and treatment services. The team will build on its tech and features with the intention of expanding its service to cover a wide variety of skin conditions.
ZappedSkin’s contribution to dermatology
Registered & recognised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), ZappedSkin is a teledermatology platform which provides acne sufferers with video and text consultations with UK-trained consulting dermatologists without compromising their comfort or privacy. Medications and tests are delivered to patients’ addresses, with treatment options including topical medication, oral antibiotics and isotretinoin. All services are provided remotely in an attempt to improve the consultation frequency by patients and make dermatology services more accessible.
Not only does ZappedSkin save patients the difficulty, inconvenience & often present unease of attending an in-person consultation but also greatly reduces the wait time to see a consultant from what can spiral into months on NHS waitlists, to days. Consultations don’t need referrals from GPs making treatment far more accessible.
“Without the ability to quickly and easily see a dermatologist, patients often go for months or even years without receiving proper treatment for acne, which can have a huge impact on emotional and mental health as well as the risk of causing permanent scarring. Typically, their treatment journey begins with online research, with resources varying in reliability, before trialling over-the-counter skincare products, which are not sufficient in a lot of cases,” remarked Dr Ali Jomaa, ZappedSkin’s co-founder.
Launched in 2020 by Steve Scott & Dr Ali Jomaa, ZappedSkin’s remote consultation model launched with nine dermatologists and proved its viability during the pandemic. The company has thus far undertaken nearly 2,000 consultations, doubling its turnover in its first six months since launch. The telehealth startup has rapidly developed a customer base partly due to its skin positivity message which resonated with an engaged skincare community on social media.
Dr Ali Jomaa, ZappedSkin’s co-founder, further explained, “Our mission at ZappedSkin is to help patients get the correct treatment they need much quicker by making the experts easily available to them. We are with our customers throughout their entire journey to acne recovery, as a place they can go to for support, advice, credible information and the treatment of acne.”
This investment will add fuel to the startup’s take-off through hiring and marketing as it expands its acne services to cover the full spectrum of treatment, offering personalised topical skincare products, oral prescription medication and eventually post-Roaccutane aftercare skin maintenance packages via a subscription model.
The financing will also support further app development which will support the platform’s capabilities as the company expands its service into other conditions in its goal to make skincare treatment accessible, innovative and personal.
“ZappedSkin has demonstrated a fantastic product-market fit by quickly garnering a large customer base, who were looking for a better way to receive skincare treatment. We are proud to support this team, who are already making a big difference in people’s lives,” stated Jeffrey Faustin, Jenson Funding Partners CIO.
