JOYA Health, which bills itself as the first employee skin benefit platform, has signed with local employers IRA Capital and Tillys Inc.
The Irvine-based startup offers plans for acne and other skin-related treatments with copays ranging from $10 to $25 through employers and $39 out of pocket.
“In the world of employer benefits, employers are offering healthcare, dental, vision, pet insurance and fertility, but there is no benefit that focuses on your skin,” Michael “Mike” Jafar, founder and chief executive of JOYA, told the Business Journal.
JOYA has close to 300 providers across 15 states in the U.S. within its network.
The company, founded in 2023, emerged out of stealth mode last year after raising $5 million in seed funding from LUX Capital, Mosaic General Partnership, Arsama Trust and Joyance Partners.
Proceeds from the seed round are going toward scaling sales and marketing.
Jafar said that the company will raise a larger round this summer “as momentum is increasing.”
In April, JOYA announced a partnership with Aesthetic Record to integrate its membership benefits into Aesthetic Record’s POS systems, which are used in over 9,000 clinics.
Skin Cancer Screening Services
The average consumer spends about $1,500 a year on skin wellness services, which aren’t typically covered by insurance, with the top three categories being facials, Botox and laser treatments, according to Jafar.
JOYA claims it can cut down those costs by half.
What makes the company unique is that it requires its providers to go through a thorough vetting process, Jafar said.
“We ensure that the providers abide by a host of criteria before they come onto the network,” he said.
One of the services JOYA covers is skin cancer screenings.
Statistics show that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.
Jafar said that employers on average are paying anywhere between $20,000 to $40,000 for an employee that gets diagnosed with skin cancer, which is what made him decide to add skin cancer screenings as a benefit to members.
“We thought it’d be a great offer for employers and employees,” Jafar said.
CEO with Allergan, Evolus Ties
The idea for JOYA came from Jafar’s time working at Allergan.
His biggest takeaway from his 15 years at the company was the realization that people with better skin felt happier and more confident about themselves, he said.
“That was one of the biggest drivers,” Jafar said. “I wanted people to have access to what better skin felt like.”
Jafar held several roles ranging from director of marketing to product management at Allergan.
He has led pipeline strategy and commercial assessment for some of Allergan’s most well-known products including CoolSculpting, Skin Medica and Latisse.
“I touched every product that the company has,” Jafar said.
Following Allergan, Jafar spent nearly three years at Newport Beach-based aesthetics company Evolus Inc. (Nasdaq: EOLS) as chief marketing officer then chief commercial officer.