Article by Allie Dalola, intern with the U.S. Department of State, currently studying Business Administration and Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill.
[Barcelona, March 2023] Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) alumni Judit Camargo is harnessing the power of science and sustainability through her business Roka Furadada. Her background in pharmaceutical research and business development coupled with her passion for the environment led her to launch her company in 2019, which focuses on protecting sunscreen wearers in Spain while also protecting the planet.
Before starting Roka Furadada and participating in AWE, a U.S. Department of State exchange program aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs around the globe, Camargo worked in biomedical research. A few years in, she decided to go back to school and pursue postgraduate degrees in public health from the University of Barcelona and business certifications from IESE Business School. After graduation, her interests drew her to research and product development opportunities at pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. Soon, her role transitioned from lab work to a focus on business development.
While working in the corporate world, Carmargo became an advocate for climate justice and used her spare time to push for environmental change. This passion eventually led her to make a massive career leap and start her own sustainable business.
“Sometimes being an activist isn’t enough,” Camargo said. “With my expertise in cosmetics and chemicals, I felt that running my own business could be the way to have a real impact and change things.”
in public health and business development.
While working in her business development position at a major Spanish pharmaceutical company, Camargo learned about an innovative compound that is light-activated and radiation-absorbing — a compound that she immediately thought would work well as an active ingredient in sunscreen. The science was astounding and Camargo immediately recognized this product’s potential to transform the sunscreen industry.
“When I discovered this product within the company,” she said, “I thought it was amazing. I wondered if it was just amazing to me or if people would want to buy it.”
Camargo brought the information to her CEO and began conducting consumer research. It was clear that this product was going to be popular. Camargo led the company’s efforts to fully develop this product and scale up manufacturing.
However, six months later, the company went through a shift in management and the new leaders decided to shift their focus away from cosmetic products. Despite being told the rights to the product she had been working on would be sold, Camargo wasn’t finished with it. Procuring funding from a local acceleration program for technological businesses, she secured the rights to this product and officially launched Roka Furadada.
In the years since, Roka Furadada has further developed this product and become a leading seller to sunscreen manufacturers in Spain. Camargo has shaped her business around the mission of “reducing the incidence of skin cancer with high efficiency and zero toxicity to people and the environment,” – an important mission considering Barcelona’s Mediterranean climate.
Currently, Roka Furadada sells two products to sunscreen manufacturers across Europe, South America, and Asia. Her team of twenty scientists is currently working to develop ten more innovative sunscreen ingredients to bring to market in the coming months. Camargo is excited about the health and environmental benefits of her current and future products.
“Since this product is so powerful, people can use less sunscreen,” Camargo explained. “Using less product lessens the environmental impact.” As a measure of her company’s dedication to sustainability, Roka Furadada’s business prioritizes each element of the triple bottom line: profit, people, and planet.
Camargo’s goal for her company is to be “100% sustainable in the next three years.” To accomplish that, she said Roka Furadada will work to source only natural ingredients, moving away from the petroleum-based ingredients used in most sunscreen products. Camargo also works to source mainly from local vendors, which is critical to reducing carbon emissions from extensive transport.
With experience in business before starting Roka Furadada, Camargo explains that she was skeptical about whether participating in the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) would teach her anything new.
Looking back at it, however, she said joining the AWE program was one of the best things she could have done for her company. She has never regretted it, she said.
“In business school, what I studied was theoretical and complex,” Camargo said. “The AWE program was very focused on what’s really important in business: it was practical and not theoretical. I loved it, and I found it really useful.”
But even more than that, participating in AWE allowed Camargo to connect with an extensive network of women and global leaders — something that benefits her personally and professionally to this day.
“If you need something after completing AWE, you have contacts,” Camargo said. “AWE is not only a program but provides you with coaching and help after the program.”
With the practical skills and extensive network she built during her time in AWE, Camargo said she is excited to expand Roka Furadada’s international reach in the coming years and take more steps toward her goal of total sustainability.
her even after she completed the program.
“If I was giving advice to another woman thinking about starting a business,” Camargo said. “I would say go for it and ask for help. A program like AWE is very useful and important for your business.”
Launched by the U.S. Department of State in 2019, the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs is a women’s empowerment initiative that equips women with the skills they need to start and scale successful businesses. Using the DreamBuilder learning platform developed by Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, AWE has empowered more than 25,000 women in 100 countries with knowledge and networks. Since the U.S. Mission to Spain launched the program in 2020, AWE has helped expand women-led biotech startups in the Barcelona region and supported 200 women in cities across the country.
For more information about AWE, visit: https://eca.state.gov/awe.
The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs was launched by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in 2019 as an exchange program to empower women with the knowledge, networks and access they need to launch and scale successful businesses.
The Virtual Student Federal Service Internships program is an unpaid virtual internship that connects the talents of U.S. citizen undergraduate and graduate students with the needs of federal agencies. To read AWE’s impact stories and learn more about the program, visit: https://eca.state.gov/awe.
