Gerard Prats, a chemist specialized in cosmetics, and David Hart, a professional in the digital marketing sector, chose Barcelona in 2019 to create Saigu Cosmetics, a natural cosmetics company, 100% digitally native and with the vocation to "bet on sustainability, proximity and the simplicity of the island of Menorca," where the two young entrepreneurs are originally from. As they explain, their vocation was to demonstrate that it is possible to bring high-quality and environmentally friendly cosmetics to the market.
"The formulation is complex because you have to take the list of ingredients you usually put in a normal product and start looking for natural and ecological substitutes that give the same result, always valuing proximity as one of the most important factors," explain Hart and Prats, who have just closed a 400,000 euro financing round that will allow them to begin internationalization.
This injection of resources has been provided by BStartup of Banco Sabadell and by the collective investment platform Dozen. The objective now is to introduce Saigu Cosmetics products in France, Italy, and Germany. Currently, the brand has eleven products for sale through its website, with ingredients that are 99% natural and around 35% organic. Makeup bases, blushes, lipsticks, mascara, skin creams, and eyeliners are some of their references.
According to Saigu, growth "has been exponential" in the last two years as citizens' awareness of this type of product with local ingredients has grown. Saigu highlights that its formulation and manufacturing are carried out entirely in Spain and that packaging suppliers are also local. "Proximity is one of the most important factors, so sometimes we have to make complex decisions such as: Do I order this organic ingredient from Germany or do I buy it from intensive agriculture from a local producer?" explain the company's promoters.