Meet the Singaporean businessman running Singapore’s first AI-powered scalp clinic

In the cutthroat world of commerce, there is no pausing by the wayside to catch a breather — even in a moment’s rest to savour success is the risk of being left behind.

Arich Tan knows this too well. After 12 years of managing traditional wellness and beauty aesthetics brands, the co-founder and group chief executive officer of A Wellness Holding (AWHL) saw that businesses risk being obliterated if innovation and technology were not at the core. Staying ahead of the curve with relevant services and technologically advanced offerings was necessary as he observed his customers moving towards their 40s and 50s.

He shared: “I noticed that many brands are gone when the founders pass on. It made me think about going beyond the traditional wellness models and venturing into technology to leave a legacy.”

Two years ago, Tan plunged into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) to launch DrScalp, an AI-driven scalp-care clinic. He put in S$5 million into research and development, working with an AI professor to create an accurate and personalised analytical tool, and a company specialising in bionanotechnology to develop solutions that tackle conditions such as hair loss, greying hair, and oily and sensitive scalps at a deeper cellular level.

That move couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. According to the latest 2023 report by US-based market research consultancy Arizton, the global digital health and wellness market is expected to grow at nearly 22 per cent annually from 2022 to reach over US$1.1 trillion (S$1.51 trillion) by 2028. One of the key trends highlighted by the report was the increased use of data analytics in consumer-centric wellness.

Tan said: “The scalp care industry has been mostly based on human analysis, which is prone to error and tends to be biased because there are sales targets to be met. But an AI-generated solution doesn’t lie or make mistakes with data analysis.”

I was invited for a trial session at the salon at Raffles City, where I had a detailed AI analysis of the hair density, oil concentration and melanin level on my scalp. The results showed an oily scalp and some damaged hair follicles. For the detoxifying treatment, I was given a massaging brush-through using a high frequency comb said to improve blood circulation in the scalp, followed by deep cleansing, a mask and a steam.

The staff then used a Bio-Jetstream device to deliver pressurised shots of bio-nano cells into my scalp that felt like a pulsating fingertip massage. This device supposedly enables the cells to penetrate deeply and be absorbed into the scalp, allowing damaged follicles to heal and thrive in the natural way it should.

One session was evidently not going to create miracles and Tan was quick to emphasise that they are “not selling magic”. He reiterated: “We’re selling science and technology. Clients need discipline to see results, which can take three to six months.” The clinic has been seeing mostly male customers aged from 30 to 50 years with early-onset balding a common gripe among them.

Being cognizant of gaps in the wellness field has always been Tan’s strength. At a time when there were few alternatives to surgery for medical conditions, he opened one Natural Healing Chiropractic and Muscle Care clinic in 2012 to provide chiropractic treatment, functional wellness and traditional Chinese medicine as a means to alleviate aches and pain. The brand has since been renamed as Natrahea, with seven pain management clinics around Singapore serviced by a team of accredited doctors.

He then established AWHL as an investment holding company and, through a series of acquisitions and mergers of established brands, developed it to become Singapore’s largest group of health and wellness entities. The group, which won the Singapore Enterprise 50 Awards from 2020 to 2022, carries brands such as the Haach beauty chain founded in 1997, ladies-only spa Passage New York and spinal specialist Physiomed.

Tan plans to open 15 DrScalp outlets in Singapore over the next three years as well as expand to cities such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia through a franchise model. Europe and North America would be next on the cards in three to five years’ time. He is also developing a similar technology for skincare, which he plans to launch in 2024.

He said: “The service industry has been in a traditional mode for over 10 years. If we carry on opening normal clinics and spas, I don’t see us going far as it doesn’t capture the new millennial buying behaviour. People are becoming savvier in their knowledge and demands. The investment into AI and biotech costs millions but that’s the future and we will keep moving in that direction.”