Dermacia Inc., a Newport Beach maker of cosmetic and skincare products, has raised $10 million in funding, the company said Thursday.
The 5-year-old company plans to use the money to come up with products and for marketing, including on the Internet and television.
Separately, Dermacia said it hired Los Angeles-based investment banking firm Gemini Partners Inc. to look at other ways to finance products in a niche dubbed “cosmeceuticals,” or drugs used for cosmetic purposes.
They include products designed to hide post-surgery scars and dermatological conditions.
The company’s main product is Lycogel, developed four years ago. It is sold through a network of more than 1,000 doctors as well as surgical and dermatology centers and pharmacies across the U.S. and Mexico.
Lycogel is used in clinics, hospitals, universities and burn centers to speed recovery and minimize scarring of burn victims and patients undergoing reconstructive surgery.
In a statement, Dermacia said it recently started marketing its products over the Internet, and currently is in production on an infomercial set to air in September on home shopping channel QVC.
Chief Executive Matt Nicosia and Barry Knapp, Dermacia’s president, started the company in 2000.
A native of Los Angeles, Knapp, 41, showed an interest in cosmetics and skin care at age 14 when he began working with makeup artists and estheticians, according to the company’s Web site.
At 20, Knapp was the founder and creative director of a salon and spa company, which he grew to 20 locations before selling.
He’s said to have produced a number of TV shows, including the largest viewed makeover show, which featured Placido Domingo’s family and was viewed by more than 87 million people worldwide.
Nicosia, 31, has played a role in a number of small companies, including founding Transafari Inc., a provider of corporate software, and Med-Help, an online distributor of used medical equipment to South America.
