Beauty tech is booming, but growth has made the category louder, not clearer. AI diagnostics, AR try-ons, personalization, and smart devices are pulling more founders into the space, but more innovation also means more hype, more copycats, and more brands fighting for the same customer attention.
For founders, a strong product is just the entry fee. The real edge comes from knowing what actually drives trust, repeat purchase, and loyalty in a market where branding and novelty can fake momentum.
This room is for people who want to separate signal from noise and figure out which trends are truly shaping the future of beauty tech.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
- Hear from a pioneer in beauty tech and understand what they are building, how they got there, and what they are paying attention to now.
- Connect with other beauty tech founders who are relentlessly innovating and building through the noise.
- Understand shifting consumer behavior, changing demand, and what customers are looking for now.
🙋 Who's Getting In This Room
- Beauty tech founders
- Beauty business owners
- Consumer and brand experts
- Investors interested in beauty tech and consumer companies
🎤 Who’s Taking the Stage
Zehra Soysal - Founder & CEO of Savanah. ai
Zehra’s career journey began at Google in business strategy, followed by impactful roles at BCG, where she worked across diverse sectors in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. She played a key role in establishing a tech joint venture with Turkey’s largest conglomerate, igniting her passion for innovative business technologies. She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2022. Post-MBA, she joined Metaphysic.ai in New York, where she was instrumental in scaling operations and driving strategic growth through its $1.4B acquisition. She is now the founder and CEO of Savanah.ai, a New York-based visual AI platform helping brands create e-commerce imagery at scale and optimize conversion.
Yarden Horwitz - Co-Founder of Spate
Yarden Horwitz is the Co-founder of Spate, an AI-driven platform used by 250+ beauty brands like Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, and P&G to make data-driven decisions. Before founding Spate in 2018, Yarden worked at Google, launching the first Google Trends Report and co-founding the trendspotting division. She’s been named a top female leader by Entrepreneur Magazine and sits on the boards of CEW and NewBeauty Brain Trust. Yarden is a frequent speaker at beauty events like CEW’s State of the Beauty Industry and her work has been featured in publications including WWD, Vogue Business, and the New York Times.
Bonnie Young - Founder & Chief Creative at BY. Bonnie Young
Bonnie Young is founder of the luxury brand BY. Bonnie Young, known for its timeless, artful, and purposeful design that merge modern couture with effortless ease. She began her career at Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan before launching her own label. Her work has appeared in leading publications including Vogue, Forbes, and The New York Times, and has been worn by celebrities and Middle Eastern royalty. Young has collaborated with Adidas, Swarovski, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. She is also an author, photographer, philanthropist, CFDA member, and recipient of the 2025 FGI Ready-to-Wear Award for excellence.
Moderator:
Jessica Sophia Wong - Founder& CEO@
Jessica Sophia Wong is the founder of Yorkseed — a venture intelligence and relationship platform built for the people who move capital and companies across borders. Through Yorkseed Connect, she has built one of the most active cross-border founder and investor ecosystems in the world, operating across 50+ city hubs and running alongside SXSW, Web Summit, Davos, CES, VivaTech, and New York Tech Week. She also founded Valois, a private invitation-only network for family offices, HNWI, and fund managers at the highest level of global capital. Venture Partner at VNTR Capital. Based in NYC and Paris.
💬 What We Do Not Sugarcoat
- In an industry full of noise and competition, how do you separate real signal from hype?
- How do you fight copycats in a market where products move fast and differentiation can disappear overnight?
- What trends actually reflect customer demand, and what are customers burning for now that they were not asking for before?
- How does AI actually matter here, from diagnostics and personalization to discovery, conversion, and retention?
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com
Ugly Talk: The Future of Fashion & Beauty Tech
Hosts
Wed, Jun 03, 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM (EDT)
To be shared on approval (New York)
100 attendees
Beauty tech is booming, but growth has made the category louder, not clearer. AI diagnostics, AR try-ons, personalization, and smart devices are pulling more founders into the space, but more innovation also means more hype, more copycats, and more brands fighting for the same customer attention.
For founders, a strong product is just the entry fee. The real edge comes from knowing what actually drives trust, repeat purchase, and loyalty in a market where branding and novelty can fake momentum.
This room is for people who want to separate signal from noise and figure out which trends are truly shaping the future of beauty tech.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
🙋 Who's Getting In This Room
🎤 Who’s Taking the Stage
Zehra Soysal - Founder & CEO of Savanah. ai
Zehra’s career journey began at Google in business strategy, followed by impactful roles at BCG, where she worked across diverse sectors in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. She played a key role in establishing a tech joint venture with Turkey’s largest conglomerate, igniting her passion for innovative business technologies. She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2022. Post-MBA, she joined Metaphysic.ai in New York, where she was instrumental in scaling operations and driving strategic growth through its $1.4B acquisition. She is now the founder and CEO of Savanah.ai, a New York-based visual AI platform helping brands create e-commerce imagery at scale and optimize conversion.
Yarden Horwitz - Co-Founder of Spate
Yarden Horwitz is the Co-founder of Spate, an AI-driven platform used by 250+ beauty brands like Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, and P&G to make data-driven decisions. Before founding Spate in 2018, Yarden worked at Google, launching the first Google Trends Report and co-founding the trendspotting division. She’s been named a top female leader by Entrepreneur Magazine and sits on the boards of CEW and NewBeauty Brain Trust. Yarden is a frequent speaker at beauty events like CEW’s State of the Beauty Industry and her work has been featured in publications including WWD, Vogue Business, and the New York Times.
Bonnie Young - Founder & Chief Creative at BY. Bonnie Young
Bonnie Young is founder of the luxury brand BY. Bonnie Young, known for its timeless, artful, and purposeful design that merge modern couture with effortless ease. She began her career at Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan before launching her own label. Her work has appeared in leading publications including Vogue, Forbes, and The New York Times, and has been worn by celebrities and Middle Eastern royalty. Young has collaborated with Adidas, Swarovski, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. She is also an author, photographer, philanthropist, CFDA member, and recipient of the 2025 FGI Ready-to-Wear Award for excellence.
Moderator:
Jessica Sophia Wong - Founder& CEO@
Jessica Sophia Wong is the founder of Yorkseed — a venture intelligence and relationship platform built for the people who move capital and companies across borders. Through Yorkseed Connect, she has built one of the most active cross-border founder and investor ecosystems in the world, operating across 50+ city hubs and running alongside SXSW, Web Summit, Davos, CES, VivaTech, and New York Tech Week. She also founded Valois, a private invitation-only network for family offices, HNWI, and fund managers at the highest level of global capital. Venture Partner at VNTR Capital. Based in NYC and Paris.
💬 What We Do Not Sugarcoat
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com