Ephemeral (company)

Ephemeral is a corporate chain of tattoo studios that has raised millions from venture capital investors. Their tattoos were supposed to fade in 9 to 15 months. In February 2023, the company updated the timeframe, saying that 70% of tattoos will fade within two years. The company was founded by five students at New York University, two of whom invented Ephemeral’s ink. In 2021, the company raised 20 million of venture capital funding.

Ephemeral’s ink is made of bioabsorbable polymer particles that are supposed to break down over time, eventually degrading enough to be eliminated by the immune system.

In September 2023, Ephemeral announced that they are closing all of their studio locations within the month.

Concerns
Customers have complained that their Ephemeral tattoos do not fade, even after fifteen to nineteen months. In response to these concerns, ink co-inventor Brennal Pierre stated: "'As a researcher, I expect these things. We come up with what we think is an average in what the data has shown us, and that’s what we present. But when you put it out in the wild, different things happen.'"

Dr. Roy Grekin, director of the Dermatologic Surgery and Laser Center at UC San Francisco stated he wasn’t surprised to hear that different people experienced different fade times with Ephemeral tattoos.

Co-founder Joshua Sakhai stated: "'After the ink fades away, there is a possibility that the skin’s pigment may look lighter or darker in the area. This is a result of the tattoo process itself. Ephemeral tattoos, just like permanent ones, cause trauma to the skin, and this slight difference in pigmentation is a result of the skin’s healing process.''"

Contests
In 2015, Ephemeral won first place in the $200K Entrepreneurs Challenge and in 2016, Inc. (magazine) named the company the Coolest College Startup.