When Carpe Lotion co-founders Kasper Kubica and David Spratte first decided to make an antiperspirant for excessively sweaty hands, they assumed there were already effective products on the market.
The two discovered, however, that other treatments for excessive sweat left behind residue, grease or simply did not work.
“It turned out there were a lot of people who were really looking for a solution and that nothing out there was providing a good one,” Kubica said. “So we thought: ‘Let’s see if we can do any better.’”
Five years later, Carpe Lotion has appeared on Good Morning America’s “Steals and Deals” segment and is the number three best-selling antiperspirant on Amazon. Carpe’s main product line, which includes hand, foot, underarm and other topical treatments, can be found at Target and CVS stores nationwide.
“No good alternatives”
Sweaty hands is more than a minor inconvenience for some, and can be a symptom of a diagnosable condition: hyperhidrosis.
Hyperhidrosis refers to abnormal, excessive sweating involving the extremities, underarms and face, usually unrelated to body temperature or exercise.
A 2016 study published in the Archives of Dermatological Research found that 4.8 percent of Americans, or approximately 15.3 million people, suffer from hyperhidrosis. Carpe’s primary target demographic focuses on those who suffer from hyperhidrosis and other forms of extreme perspiration.
An excessive sweater himself, Kubica said he and Spratte began developing a formula for an antiperspirant in the summer of 2014, while Kubica was a student at Duke University and Spratte a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.
“[David] actually came to me with the idea and I didn’t think it was the greatest one, even though I have sweaty hands,” Kubica said. “But we tried everything out there, and it was really all quite bad.”
Developing the product took about a year of reading primary papers and making more than 60 prototypes. Kubica said antiperspirant formula suppliers were willing to send free chemical samples to promising inventors, and the companies connected them with antiperspirant experts worldwide.
“But in the end, it came down to sitting in a dorm room, trying new formulas, putting it on and seeing how it worked until we came up with something that had incredible efficacy, looked great and worked great,” he said.
On the start-up circuit
Despite Carpe’s effectiveness, Kubica said he and Spratte initially struggled to solicit funding for the product launch through Kickstarter and local angel investors.
“We were out of 1789 [Venture Lab] at UNC, and I gotta say, we were not very popular in that scene,” Kubica said. “Not many people thought we had much of a market, and they had a pretty good reason for thinking that.”
During a pitch party at the venture lab, Kubica and Spratte finally received attention from an investor: Bootstrap Advisors, a start-up incubator based out of Durham.
“They said, ‘Hey, there’s a lot here that you don’t understand in terms of what it takes to get this off the ground, there’s a lot of resources you don’t have right now,’” Kubica said.
Bootstrap provided seed money and technical assistance for the Carpe product launch on Amazon and on its website, and sales took off from customers looking for hyperhidrosis treatments.
“They really helped us launch and really taught us everything we knew at that point on how to start a company,” Kubica said. “The only reason that Carpe exists today is because of the mentors David and I surrounded ourselves with from day one.”
Since the first product launch, Carpe has brought on more local investors and advisors, including former Proactiv CEO Seth Radwell. The company also brought in a critical $2.3 million in seed funding last year through the Carolina Angel Network and Duke Angel Network.
Stopping the sweat
While other treatments for hyperhidrosis may be invasive, expensive or require a prescription, Kubica said Carpe differentiates itself by being easy-to-use and affordable. A 1.35 ounce tube of Carpe Antiperspirant Hand Lotion, the company’s first and flagship product, is available on Amazon for $14.95.
He added that while other general antiperspirants try to project an image about their users, Carpe has developed a loyal customer base because it only has one objective.
“For folks like David and me and the people who love Carpe, it’s not about looking cool or smelling any different. It’s about stopping the sweat.”
Kubica said most of the company’s initial marketing came from online referrals and product reviews, and that Carpe has adjusted its formula and product line based on customer feedback.
“The more customers we’ve gotten, the more we’ve spoken to, and we realized that sweating all over the body is an under-addressed issue,” he said. “As it turns out, few of the solutions out there can compete with what we can provide.”
While Carpe initially sold only hand treatment, it has expanded its product line to include foot, underarm, groin and face treatments, as well as on-the-go wipes.
Kubica said going forward, Carpe is looking to expand into more nationwide retailers, and to become the number one online product in its category.
“Going forward, I think Carpe is going to be the brand people think of when they think of excessive sweating. No matter how, where or why you’re sweating, Carpe will be the go-to solution, and that’s where this company is headed.”
