India’s leading clinical beauty platform, makeO has acquired MENA-based healthtech company, Smileneo, which will see the combined entity become the largest clinical beauty technology platform across the markets, with the scale to match consumers’ demand.
The deal is a significant milestone for the MENA and India entrepreneurship ecosystems since it is one of the first-ever acquisitions of a GCC venture capital-backed startup by an Indian company. Additionally, the acquisition is one of the first examples of closer startup ecosystem cooperation between the MENA and India catalyzed by the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed in February 2022.
Founded byDr. Jonathan Doerr, Smileneo and its orthodontic partners offer safe and effective doctor-prescribed and monitored clear aligners to straighten teeth for beautiful smiles. Launched in 2020, Smileneo has served thousands of patients through a network of more than 30 licensed partner orthodontists in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. Smileneo’s adherence with health authorities in the region made it the first and only licensed regional teledentistry platform for direct-to-consumer teeth straightening in the MENA.
Dr. Jonathan Doerr CEO & Founder Smileneo
“We are very excited to work together with makeO and for this opportunity as both companies share the vision of building a high-quality clinical beauty technology platform. MakeO’s vast experience and production capabilities will not only elevate our business and help our partner clinics reach the next level, but also allow us to venture into new areas of telehealth in addition to our established orthodontics practice.”
makeO, India’s only U.S. FDA-approved B2C aligner company, is an innovative tech-enabled brand that offers at-home ‘aesthetic makeovers’, i.e. oral and skin care services via its brands toothsi and skinnsi. makeO has successfully created an ecosystem of established orthodontists, dentists and dermatologists that are revolutionizing the way in which services such as teeth alignment, teeth whitening, laser hair removal and derma-facial treatments are performed outside a clinical setup.
With technology & innovation at its core, the brand also boasts of state-of-the-art infrastructure such as India’s largest 3D printing in-house aligner manufacturing facility. Today, makeO prides itself on having designed 200,000+ smile plans under its brand toothsi and 60,000+ laser hair reduction sessions under skinnsi in less than three years.
Dr. Arpi Mehta, CEO & Co-Founder, makeO added that “Having garnered strong market leadership in the Indian self-care industry, we are now prepared to extend makeO’s product & technology expertise to the global audience. Smileneo’s high-quality medical and tech-driven approach, as well as its footprint and expertise in the region will accelerate our growth ambitions and materialize our vision to expand beyond India. With this acquisition, we will not only be able to enter the Middle East, but also have a basis for further expansion to South Asia & Africa.”
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