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Covalo

Category: AI in Analytics & BI

A comprehensive B2B search platform and marketplace for personal care ingredients that connects beauty brands with chemical suppliers through a structured, AI-driven database. Covalo was founded in 2021. The company is led by Yann Chilvers. Based in Zurich, Switzerland. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: €4.5M. Latest round: Seed Expansion. Key investors include High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Seed+Speed Ventures, Intelligent Graphics, Clariant.

Founded
2021
Headquarters
Zurich, Switzerland
Team size
11-50
Total funding
€4.5M

Value proposition

Streamlines the fragmented ingredient sourcing process by replacing manual research with a centralized platform, reducing sourcing time from weeks to minutes while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Products and solutions

Ingredient Discovery & Search Engine (80,000+ ingredients), Supplier Transparency & Directory Tool, Automated Sample Request System, Regulatory & Documentation Management Hub, Supplier Market Intelligence Dashboard

Unique value

Originally an internal venture of Clariant (Chemberry), Covalo possesses deep domain-specific data structures and industry relationships that pure-tech competitors lack, making it the 'Google' of the personal care chemical industry.

Target customer

R&D managers, formulators, and procurement teams at beauty and personal care brands; marketing and sales teams at chemical ingredient suppliers and distributors.

Industries served

Personal Care, Cosmetics, Specialty Chemicals, Consumer Goods (CPG)

Technology advantage

Utilizes proprietary AI and machine learning to normalize and structure 'messy' technical data from thousands of unstructured supplier documents (TDS/SDS) into a standardized, searchable format.

How they differentiate

Covalo differentiates through its AI-driven data normalization engine that converts unstructured technical documents (TDS/SDS) into searchable, standardized data. Unlike broad chemical marketplaces, it offers a specialized 'Google-like' search experience tailored specifically to personal care formulators and R&D teams.

Main competitors

Knowde, UL Prospector, SpecialChem

Key partnerships

Clariant (Strategic Investor and former parent company), High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Seed+Speed Ventures, Cosmetitrovo (Strategic Acquisition)

Notable customers

Clariant, Cosmetitrovo (Acquired), Various Global Beauty & Personal Care Brands

Major milestones

Spun off from Clariant as an independent entity in 2021, Successfully raised €3.5M in Seed Expansion funding in May 2023, Acquired Italian competitor Cosmetitrovo in 2024 to consolidate European market share, Reached milestone of 80,000+ indexed ingredients

Growth metrics

Lists over 80,000 ingredients from 1,000+ suppliers; user base includes R&D managers and formulators from major global beauty brands.

Market positioning

Specialized B2B marketplace challenger focusing on the Personal Care and Cosmetics vertical.

Geographic focus

Primary focus on Europe (DACH region and Italy), with growing expansion into the North American market.

Patents and IP

No registered patents disclosed; relies on proprietary data normalization algorithms and a massive, cleaned industry-specific dataset.

About Yann Chilvers

Yann Chilvers has over a decade of experience in digital strategy and corporate innovation. He began his career as a Consultant at Monitor Deloitte, focusing on digital and commercial strategy. He then joined Clariant, where he founded and led 'Chemberry' as an internal corporate venture. In 2021, he successfully spun off the venture into the independent startup Covalo, serving as Co-CEO.

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