team_report

7. Team & Vision Report

Slide 1 - Cover (LAVisions layout)layout: title_hero · 16:9

team & vision report

the team behind tola

a formulation scientist, a Sephora operator, and a sourcing lead who built the supply chain no one else has

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Slide 2 - Team Overview (LAVisions layout)layout: team_grid · 16:9

the team

A formulation scientist and a Sephora operator, with a bench to match.

Sarah Chen

Co-founder and CEO

Ex-Glossier brand lead and ex-Drunk Elephant Director of Marketing. Ran the Sephora rollout playbook into the 2019 Shiseido acquisition. Owns brand, channel, and the contracted 450-door rollout.

Dr Maya Patel

Co-founder and Chief Scientist

PhD in Cosmetic Chemistry from Columbia. Nine years at L'Oreal R&D Paris, then Estee Lauder advanced research. Four issued patents on oil-bound actives, two more filed under TOLA.

Amara Okonkwo

VP Provenance and Supply

Built cooperative sourcing programs at Aesop across Southern Africa. Holds TOLA's multi-year contracts with three farmer cooperatives at 28% above commodity pricing.

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Slide 3 - Founder Bio: Sarah Chen (LAVisions layout)layout: product_split · 16:9

Co-founder and CEO

Sarah Chen

Sarah spent five years as brand lead at Glossier before becoming Director of Marketing at Drunk Elephant, where she helped run the Sephora rollout playbook that carried the brand into its 2019 acquisition by Shiseido. She has sat on both sides of the vendor-buyer relationship: pitching Sephora for wholesale terms and later approving them from the other side of the table. That is the experience she brought to TOLA's own pilot, which sold through 89% of stock across 50 Sephora doors and triggered the contracted 450-door rollout landing through 2026. She owns brand, retail channel strategy, and the operating cadence that turns a pilot into a chain-wide footprint. At TOLA she sets the go-to-market calendar and holds the Sephora relationship directly.

linkedin.com/in/sarahchentola

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Slide 4 - Founder Bio: Dr Maya Patel (LAVisions layout)layout: product_split · 16:9

Co-founder and Chief Scientist

Dr Maya Patel

Maya holds a PhD in Cosmetic Chemistry from Columbia and spent nine years in formulation research, first at L'Oreal R&D in Paris, then in Estee Lauder's advanced research group. She holds four issued patents on oil-bound active delivery, with two more filed under TOLA. She designed and ran both of the company's completed IRB-reviewed clinical studies, which showed a 31% reduction in moisture loss on the flagship cream and an 18% reduction in oxidative markers on the serum, results that carried TOLA through Sephora's vendor diligence process at a level most indie brands cannot reach. A third and fourth study are queued for 2026 alongside the men's line formulation work. At TOLA she owns the science: molecular characterisation, clinical design, and the single-active-per-product discipline that keeps every claim provable.

linkedin.com/in/mayapatelphd

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Slide 5 - Founder Bio: Amara Okonkwo (LAVisions layout)layout: product_split · 16:9

VP Provenance and Supply

Amara Okonkwo

Amara built cooperative sourcing programs at Aesop across Southern Africa before joining TOLA to do the same work at a smaller, more direct scale. She holds TOLA's multi-year contracts with three farmer cooperatives at 28% above commodity pricing, the premium that keeps the ingredient supply resilient against growing-season shocks and gives TOLA named, traceable provenance on every hero product. A fourth cooperative, sourcing Kenyan moringa, is under contract for 2026. Cooperative sourcing at this premium takes multiple growing seasons to replicate, which is most of why a fast follower cannot simply copy the ingredient story. At TOLA she owns supplier relationships, contract terms, and the batch-testing process that verifies active concentration before anything reaches the lab.

linkedin.com/in/amaraokonkwotola

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Slide 6 - Mission & Vision (LAVisions layout)layout: mission_vision · 16:9

mission

prove that clinical results belong on ingredients the industry has never studied

TOLA exists because the premium skincare shelf ran out of new ideas. The category has studied 0.4% of plant species and 78% of 2024 prestige launches reused the same five molecules. We publish IRB clinical studies on African botanical actives that nobody else has formulated with, source them through direct cooperative contracts instead of a commodity broker, and sell them at a mid-prestige price a Sephora buyer already trusts. Proof, not marketing, is the product.

vision

the shelf standard for what a new active looks like, built on a supply chain nobody else has

We are taking the 450-door Sephora rollout live through 2026, then following it into Selfridges, Sephora Middle East, and Lane Crawford from 2027. The cooperative network grows alongside it, past three farmer partners toward a supply base a reformulation brand cannot assemble in less than several growing seasons. We expect first operating profit in 2029 on $10.83M revenue, growing to $13.75M at a 28% margin by 2030, funded by this round with no further raise required before that exit window opens.

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Slide 7 - Next Hires (LAVisions layout)layout: next_hires · 16:9

next hires

the five roles we're hiring next

Director of Retail Execution

The 450-door Sephora rollout is contracted but field execution, door-level productivity, and front-of-aisle placement are still run out of the VP Retail's own calendar. We need a dedicated director to own store-level execution as the footprint scales past the first 150 doors.

Senior Clinical Research Scientist

Two of four hero products still need their IRB study, and the men's line formulation work is starting in parallel. Dr Patel needs a second scientist to run study design and lab work so the clinical pipeline doesn't bottleneck on one person.

Cooperative Sourcing Manager, Africa

A fourth cooperative sourcing Kenyan moringa is under contract for 2026, and the pipeline behind it needs someone on the ground managing terms, quality, and growing-season risk across a widening supplier base.

International Expansion Lead

Letters of intent with Selfridges, Sephora Middle East, and Lane Crawford close by Q4 2026, opening international beachheads in the UK, the Middle East, and Hong Kong from 2027. We need someone to own that launch sequence full time.

DTC and Subscription Growth Lead

The tola.co subscription option launches Q3 2026, aimed at lifting the current 41% reorder rate toward a modelled 65% repeat rate by 2030. We need a dedicated owner for retention, bundle attach, and the subscription funnel.

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