Three Startups Win First-Ever Colgate Connect Challenge

Colgate-Palmolive is pleased to announce the winners of the Colgate Connect Challenge, its first-ever global pitch competition aimed at startups from around the world focused on developing world-changing products to promote healthy futures.

The challenge sought to connect Colgate with external startups offering innovative solutions in three areas: quantified health and analytics; smart and connected packaging & digital consumer engagement; and products and platforms for underserved populations. Six finalists were selected from a large pool of applicants to pitch their ideas and answer questions from the panel of judges at the January 6, 2022 event.

Colgate originally planned to select only one winner, but there were so many promising submissions from high-caliber startups that the judges decided to award three cash prizes as follows:

Grand Prize: Dermala, www.Dermala.com, USA - $20,000
Dermala uses the human microbiome and analytics to create personalized products for skin health and treatment of chronic skin conditions. The Colgate judges were excited about the potential to collaborate with Dermala to support the Company’s growing skin health business lines and develop superior topical and ingestible products with a consumer-friendly digital engagement platform.

Said Lada Rasochova, Founder and Chief Executive Officer DERMALA: “We are incredibly honored to be recognized as the winner of the 2022 Colgate Connect Challenge. DERMALA leverages a cutting-edge scientific understanding of the human microbiome and data analytics to develop novel solutions for a variety of skin conditions including acne, eczema, and skin aging. We look forward to partnering with Colgate-Palmolive as we continue to develop more innovative products that incorporate the microbiome in a novel, unique, and unexpected way.”

Second Place: The SkinDNA Company, www.skindna.com.au/, Australia - $15,000
SkinDNA has developed a unique wearable patch for collection and subsequent analysis of the skin microbiome and RNA of skin biomarkers. Their Skin RNA^TM product and platform facilitates targeted product recommendations and results tracking for consumers.

Special Judges Award: Gennev, www.gennev.com/, USA - $10,000
Gennev provides an online clinic and coaching for women in underserved populations experiencing menopause. The company also offers products for sale via their direct-to-consumer store. Collaborating with Gennev can potentially provide Colgate with valuable consumer insights to develop superior oral and skin care products tailored to this demographic.