Japan’s DIC Corporation has signed an agreement with US startup Checkerspot aimed at developing personal care ingredients from a high-performance polyol derived from microalgae.
The joint development agreement (JDA) is focused on engineering new ingredient systems targeting more sustainable skin care and other personal care applications derived from microalgae using Checkerspot’s WING Platform.
The WING Platform consists of four pillars - from the molecular foundry, to materials science, to fabrication and ending with consumer engagement.
Checkerspot says its material science engineering technologists are “leading the way” in microalgae research, developing “unique materials that visibly hydrate and nourish the skin, and learning how microalgae protect themselves in some of the Earth’s most extreme environments”.
Checkerspot is now applying those lessons to personal care product development, it added.
“We’re excited to embark on this journey with our long-standing partner, DIC. We’ve long known of the potential benefits of microalgae ingredients for skin care, and we look forward to using the WING Platform to create new ingredient systems to further unlock their performance potential,” said co-founder and CEO Charles Dimmler.
DIC Corporation new business development managing executive officer Kiyofumi Takano added: “We believe that microalgae derived ingredients in skin care represent the future of performance and sustainability in personal care”.
