The Interview: Founder & CEO of CurrentBody and The Beauty Tech Group on beauty's next frontier

Home-use beauty technology has moved from niche curiosity to one of the fastest-growing segments in global beauty, and few executives have shaped its evolution more decisively than Laurence Newman.

As founder and CEO of The Beauty Tech Group, Newman has spent more than two decades at the intersection of aesthetics, clinical technology and consumer retail. From launching CurrentBody in 2009 as an educational e-commerce platform for professional-grade devices, to building a publicly listed group spanning LED, microcurrent and laser technologies, he has helped define what clinic-grade beauty looks like at home.

In this interview, Newman explains how control of the four core pillars of aesthetic technology is reshaping consumer understanding of the category, the barriers still limiting mainstream adoption, and why home-use beauty tech is only just beginning its growth journey.

Laurence Newman, Founder and CEO of The Beauty Tech Group

Can you tell us about your background and how you came to establish CurrentBody as a multi-brand e-commerce retailer originally?

I’ve been working in aesthetics for over 25 years and launched CurrentBody back in 2009, pioneering a new sector of home-use beauty devices. There was a clear gap in the market for technologies only previously used in-clinic to be miniaturised to deliver results safely and effectively at home.

Initially, I travelled the world to find products that were gradually being developed to fit this criteria. In the early days, Currentbody.com was an expert website, designed to educate customers and retail the initial beauty devices online.

At what point did you realise you wanted to create CurrentBody own-brand devices, and why did you go down the LED route?

Our business strategy centres on developing our own-brand products that span across the four core technologies used in the beauty industry: LED, Radio Frequency, Microcurrent and laser. We understood that the consumer required simple, effective solutions that were easy to explain and use, and LED was the first technology we chose to develop, as it hadn’t been done so before. It has been seven years since we launched the CurrentBody Skin Series 1 Mask, and it is now, of course, the most mature brand and one of the most well-known products in the sector.

LED is a technology with strong clinical heritage, a solid safety profile, but was also relatively unknown for home use, whilst actually very well known and liked in clinical settings.

We fully control our production and have developed systems like Veritace [which is an end-to-end quality assurance system for LED light therapy devices], giving unprecedented and unique visibility into wavelength accuracy.

CurrentBody acquired ZIIP Beauty three years ago. What made buying the brand, rather than building your own microcurrent device, the right strategic move?

Due to our deep roots in this category, we are well-positioned to consider strategic opportunities that align with our vision and enhance our technical and brand capabilities.

Microcurrent is a highly nuanced technology, and ZIIP Beauty had already built exceptional products and credibility. It made sense to bring an established brand into the Group and give it the scale, infrastructure, NPD capabilities and global reach to grow further.

Last year, you acquired Tria Laser. Can you tell us about your expanding acquisition strategy?

Our acquisition strategy is very deliberate and designed for long-term sustainable growth. Laser was the final technology of the four key areas that exist in this category that we didn't have under our umbrella. It is also the hardest to develop and regulate for safe and effective treatments. In fact, Tria Laser remains the only FDA-cleared laser for hair removal with 23 patents.

Hair removal is also one of the most searched for treatments, and alongside some of the most advanced optical engineers in the US, I am really excited about the prospect of developing this category for home use.

You often talk about the four pillars of clinic-grade technology: LED, microcurrent, radiofrequency and laser. Can you break these down?

It is fairly simple, really. Each of these four pillars represents a core technology that has been used in clinical environments for over 50 years and remains the backbone of almost all salons, clinics and surgeries in the world. We are developing devices within those technologies that can be used at home for all the conditions that people would seek solutions for from their aesthetician, dermatologist or beauty therapist.

How does having all four pillars under one group change the way consumers navigate beauty tech?

I think it is important that whilst we cover all areas, our three distinct and premium beauty brands - CurrentBody SKIN, Tria Laser and ZIIP Beauty - are all very different. They have their own identities, NPD pipelines, varied customers and overall different market strategies.

Consumers are still finding their way in the world of beauty tech, so the one thing these brands do have in common is that we are taking consumers on a journey of awareness and education.

You listed The Beauty Tech Group on the London Stock Exchange last year. Why was this the right time to go public?

I don’t think there is ever a ‘right time’, but we started the process hoping there would be significant interest from investors in backing a UK-based, founder-led business, with a global footprint in the fastest growth area of beauty. That proved to be the case, and we successfully listed on the London Stock Market on the 3rd October 2025.

Becoming a public company will help facilitate the Group’s ambition to capitalise on the significant opportunities ahead, and it has already generated significant awareness for a growing sector and, in particular, for our brands.

Despite rapid growth, beauty tech remains a relatively small part of the overall beauty market. What’s holding back adoption?

I think there are several factors at play here, but essentially it is a combination of education, trust and regulation that is required in a market that only a few years ago wasn't even aware that LED facemasks existed. Most importantly, it takes time and capital to develop and manufacture at scale. For instance, a new product will take us over two years to bring to the market, which reflects our commitment to quality and delivering advanced skin therapies that adhere to the highest standards of health and safety.

What emerging technologies or treatment categories excite you most over the next five years?

I can’t say too much about our pipeline, but we are working with some of the biggest clinical research facilities in the world to better understand the technologies within our portfolio and how each can be evolved and used for all the different hair and skin types.

We’re also excited about expanding our testing and verification systems, like Veritace. That kind of precision and transparency will define the next phase of the category.

What’s next for The Beauty Tech Group?

Our laser focus on developing the three brands across those four technologies has proven to be the success of this business and ultimately led to our position as a leader in the category. We will therefore continue to deliver advanced, effective and user-friendly skin therapy solutions by utilising our well-established beauty technologies.

I believe we are very much at the start of the development of home-use beauty tech, and the Group is well-positioned to continue to innovate and grow.