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It’s easier than ever to launch a beauty brand, but scaling in an increasingly crowded market is much harder.
That’s why London startup accelerator Growth Studio has launched Breakout Beauty UK, an incubation programme for early-stage beauty brands. Today, it announced the 12 brands that are joining its inaugural cohort, including Miriam’s Collection, a hair and skincare line inspired by rice water rituals; viral ice facial tool Contour Cube; haircare brand Byerim; and textured hair brand Ominira Naturals (full list below).
“When we started working more in the beauty sector, we saw incredible, high-potential founders, but the barriers for them to go from ‘lifestyle business’ to ‘scalable business’ were huge,” says Growth Studio co-founder Paul Finch, who created the incubation programme. “We were coming across these entrepreneurs, who, in any other sector, would have gone flying, but they just felt there are too many barriers in their way.” Finch points to the three main pain points beauty brands face when scaling: accessing equity investment, entering retail and growing on TikTok, which double as the programme’s core pillars.
The cohort will be able to access mentorship, investment guidance, retail partnerships and business development support. TikTok Shop, British health and beauty retailer Boots, HSBC and venture capital firm Venrex have joined as official partners. Beauty entrepreneurs Trinny Woodall and Mitchell Halliday are ambassadors for the programme, while Marina Kalenchyts (Wonderskin), Michael Douglas (MD London), Colette Laxton (The Inkey List) and Jamie Genevieve (Vieve) will share insider perspectives and expertise.
The incubation scheme will come to a close on 3 December, when the founders will pitch for two Breakout Beauty UK Grand Prizes, which involves launching at 10 of the biggest Boots stores and on its e-commerce site, as well as support from TikTok Shop — including mentorship, discounted platform fees, marketing investment, advertising and live-shopping training, and promotional features across the platform.
Beauty has historically attracted a more diverse pool of founders — young people, women, people of colour, those from less socioeconomically privileged backgrounds, or based outside of major cities. This rings true among Breakout Beauty’s cohort. Around three quarters of all applicants were female, and around half were people of colour. The challenge is that these founders often struggle to secure investment, and lack access to traditional business knowledge.
“There’s a huge amount more diversity among the founders, but, with that, a huge amount more imposter syndrome and insecurity. A lot of people with incredible businesses believe they’re not investable, or they’re not scalable, or they shouldn’t be in the room,” says Finch. Breakout Beauty will provide soft skills coaching around pitching, sales, networking and confidence to help entrepreneurs overcome that sense of imposter syndrome.
It’s often the case that women designing products for women have strong potential for success, because they innately understand the market. The challenge, however, comes when female founders are pitching to investors, who are often men. “We see it with our female founders all the time — they pitch an amazing business, and the feedback is, ‘Oh, I’ll have to ask my wife about that.’ There are a lot of opportunities being left on the table because of the disconnect between investors and entrepreneurs,” Finch adds. To overcome this, Breakout Beauty has partnered with multiple female investors and micro-funds that innately understand the market.
Many of the beauty founders have also expressed that their lack of industry connections — particularly with buyers — is holding them back from entering traditional retail. “They’re reaching out to people on LinkedIn, going to events and sending cold emails, but inevitably, large companies get these all the time, so it’s difficult to build rapport with a buyer,” Finch says. Through Breakout Beauty, founders will be introduced to relevant retailers that understand their category, alongside offering streamlined procurement processes into Boots.
As an ambassador, eponymous beauty founder Woodall advocates for stronger networks and more practical advice, particularly among fellow female founders. For example, she advises entrepreneurs to follow up on rejections by asking for clarification. “I don’t believe in imposter syndrome. If you think you have it, then there’s something you haven’t learnt — it’s so important to go and learn it,” she says. “Seek as much advice as you can, and connection is key to evolving your network. Having a peer group network is so important.”
Standing out in a crowded space
Boots head of global foresight and trends Grace Vernon says she looks for a clear USP — “a brand that can stand out against the competition and products that truly do what they say they will.” She adds: “Customers trust Boots, so we will particularly be looking to make sure that the products we sell are distinctive, offer great value, and, importantly, deliver.” Her advice to beauty brands when entering retail is to “know your customers, and find your differentiator. The market is incredibly crowded at the moment, so we’re looking for products and brands that stand out, either through their strong brand or through innovation in format and ingredients.”
On the other hand, Finch sees beauty brands entering TikTok Shop or Amazon quite early on. “But then they realise it takes a lot of investment and they end up putting it on the shelf until they’ve got more money or time,” he says. That’s counterproductive, because TikTok rewards consistency and momentum, says Emily Caine, head of beauty at TikTok Shop UK. “The brands that struggle are the ones who test the waters instead of committing to TikTok Shop as a serious sales channel. They might post one shoppable video, go live once, or start a creator community, but don’t nurture it,” she explains.
Caine’s advice for beauty brands seeking to scale on TikTok Shop is to think like a potential customer when creating content — show how to fix a problem or a transformation, something that will stop a user from scrolling. Fundamentally, that requires a great starting product, which is either visually compelling or solves common problems, Caine says. Then, beauty brands can use TikTok Shop as a feedback loop to help build customer loyalty and a brand universe.
While many beauty founders have lacked traditional resources, Finch believes their innovative spirit will help them succeed. “These founders understand their market and customers so incredibly well because they’ve spent the last two or three years speaking to people on the street, speaking to their customers, reading every single review, replying to every single comment,” he says. “They’ve had to be really creative with how they’ve created their products and gone to market, because they don’t have the money or resources or background to go the traditional route, so they’re doing some really exciting and innovative things.”
Meet the 2025 cohort
Beard Surgeons: Luxury scented grooming for men, founded by three childhood friends.
Byerim: Inclusive hair and beardcare line rooted in founder Erim Kaur’s cultural heritage of hair oiling and self-expression.
Clear for Men: Skincare brand created by 24-year-old Louis Watkins, which blends selfcare with mental health advocacy.
Contour Cube: Viral ice facial tool designed by Sarah Forrai.
Project Plump: Clean, clinically proven and needle-free plumping products.
Make Waves: Refillable, gender-neutral antiperspirant brand.
Miriam’s Collection: Hair and skincare powered by the centuries-old Yao women’s rice water rituals, reimagined through modern science.
Ominira Naturals: Science-led, heritage-inspired solutions for textured and Afro hair, made from PH-balanced, hand-infused botanicals.
Spots Stripes: Tween/teenage brand tackling skin and haircare with natural, effective, age-appropriate formulas.
Stria Labs: Science-first skincare offering evidence-based solutions for stretch marks and post-partum body confidence.
Tootilab: Curlcare brand that blends inclusivity and science.
2bTanned: Inclusive tanning brand.
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