FRONTMAN
Modernizing men's acne care with cosmetics and skincare
Project Description
Highlights
-
Innovative acne and skincare brand for men
-
Award-winning, derm-created instant acne solutions and 1-step acne routines
-
Launching nationally in Urban Outfitters, restocked within 1 month of launch
-
3X YoY Growth. Projecting $1,500,000 revenue in 2023
-
DTC margins (85%+) higher than average CPG brands (~60% avg)
-
Backed by top consumer VCs & cosmetic founders
Problem: Acne Sucks
Uncontrolled breakouts are a huge blow to young men's self esteem in our TikTok and social media-obsessed world. 88% of men struggle with acne breakouts from adolescence into adulthood. But why is acne a bigger problem for men than women? Because: the $20B skincare industry was built around mid-century women's routines. Thousands of men told us that the biggest reasons they didn't use skincare were that products were time-consuming or took too long to see results.
Men aren’t using skincare because it’s too slow. Men want speed and function to solve their acne – not multi-step, laborious routines.
Solution: Faster Acne Products
FRONTMAN is creating faster men's acne solutions with speed and function. We reimagine categories and application methods for men’s grooming, unapologetically embracing cosmetic and skincare functionality because they solve guys’ problems simply and effectively.
Our hero product: Skintone Acne Treatment
- Dermatologist developed, FDA approved, cruelty free, & vegan
- Most inclusive shade range available for men (10 skintones)
- Won “Best Men’s Acne Product” from Esquire within months of launching as well as earned features in GQ, Men’s Health, Business Insider, and WWD
- 88% gross margin, $24 DTC price point
Traction: Built Digital and Quickly Expanding Retail
We launched Fade in August of 2021 on our DTC site and since then have exceeded every single metric goal in our first 12 months. We’ve achieved $260,000+ revenue in 2022 with limited ad spend, selling 10,000+ units.
These metrics confirmed our product market fit and our thesis around acne care in seconds for men. Though DTC has been a great platform for early learnings and PMF testing, we believe the next phase of growth for FRONTMAN lies in retail.
Retail Strategy: Winning the Men's Acne Whitespace
Our first retail launch was in December 2022 with Gen Z retailer, Urban Outfitters. Within one month of launching, Urban placed a second restock order, confirming the products' performance in retail. We're actively in conversation with several mass and specialty retailers and have samples in review with CVS, Target, Walgreens, and more.
Retail will exponentially impact our top line growth. FRONTMAN is projected for $2M in revenue next year with retail, yielding ~$1.3M in gross product profit due our high margins.
Our Difference: Dual Function, Acne Targeted
FRONTMAN is one of the first men’s acne brands. We create the best products for men with innovative cross-category solutions by prioritizing speed and function to solve acne.
To fix acne, traditional skincare lacks speed, and traditional cosmetics lack the function. We solve both.
Our dual function acne approach is a distinct differentiator that meets the core needs of the consumer, solving his problems in the best way for mainstream adoption in a male-forward lifestyle brand that young guys love.
Market: $34 Billion and Growing
Our first goal is to be the Gen Z brand for men's acne – a category-defining, mass market, male-forward brand that provides men with superior products in a brand they resonate with.
We plan to replicate this model across different grooming, skincare, and beauty categories, innovating beyond the sparse traditional grooming offering men have had for the past 100 years. This is how we become the fastest men’s grooming brand.
Within the last year, FRONTMAN has proven product market fit, validated its retail opportunity, and is ideally positioned to win the male acne market, alongside the likes of Harry’s ($1.7 billion valuation) and Dollar Shave Club ($1B acquisition).
Funding: VC Backed
Prominent investors include Recharge Capital (care/of, Elix, Feals, Cadre), Great Oaks VC (Allbirds, by Humankind, Course Hero, Haus), Gaingels (Lime, Ro, Snackpass), SparkLabs, Jeanine Lobell (founder of Stila Cosmetics, acquired by Estee Lauder; founder of Neen), Startup Girl Foundation (of Shiffon Co.), Nargis Fakhri (Bollywood actress) and more.
About The Founders: Gen Z Harvard Students
Your Contribution
We've made enormous strides in 2022 and we're just getting started. Join us as we expand into even more retailers and bring our unique acne solutions to men all across the US.
Updates
The Campaign FAQs
- How do you see competition in this space?
We actually welcome more progressive men's brands in the space because it helps raise the overall profile of cosmetics and accelerates the cultural change. Our DNA is strong, so we focus on producing the best products for our customers.
- Are your formulas proprietary?
We have exclusivity agreements with our manufacturers that protect our unique formulas from being used by others. These fall into the trade secrets category.
- Feature in our website’s FRONTMAN hall of fame
- The Starter Pack bundle
- Feature in our website’s FRONTMAN hall of fame
- The Starter Pack bundle
- All of the above PLUS
- Your own FRONTMAN Investor discount code for your friends & family
- Early access to product launches and limited-editions
- All of the above PLUS
- Investors-only Limited Edition drops
- All of the above PLUS
- Exclusive invitation to our "Meet the founders" video call
- Input into product development
- 2 Starter Pack Bundles and 2 Post-Workout Bundles
- All of the above PLUS
- Founding Investor lifetime 25% discount
- FRONTMAN Investor custom vinyl record
Rewards
- Feature in our website’s FRONTMAN hall of fame
- The Starter Pack bundle
- Feature in our website’s FRONTMAN hall of fame
- The Starter Pack bundle
- All of the above PLUS
- Your own FRONTMAN Investor discount code for your friends & family
- Early access to product launches and limited-editions
- All of the above PLUS
- Investors-only Limited Edition drops
- All of the above PLUS
- Exclusive invitation to our "Meet the founders" video call
- Input into product development
- 2 Starter Pack Bundles and 2 Post-Workout Bundles
- All of the above PLUS
- Founding Investor lifetime 25% discount
- FRONTMAN Investor custom vinyl record