# Zahir Dossa

> Zahir Dossa is the co-founder, former CEO and executive chairman of Function of Beauty. An MIT-trained engineer with a PhD in sustainable development, he previously built The Argan Tree around a Moroccan women’s cooperative and co-authored Beyond the Triple Bottom Line with Francisco Szekely. His work connects customer-led product design with the manufacturing systems needed to deliver customization at scale.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Function of Beauty
- **Organizations:** Function of Beauty, The Argan Tree, Argania, Selsabila, Pixineo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, IMD
- **Education:** BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, BS in Management Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MEng in Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD focused on sustainable development; dissertation: A Positive Approach to Sustainability, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow, class of 2010., Selsabila received a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace award., Co-founded Function of Beauty and led it as CEO before becoming executive chairman in 2021.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Worked with Mustafa Dafalla on Selsabila, distributing inexpensive treadle-powered irrigation pumps to farmers in Sudan.
- **2009** — Founded The Argan Tree, connecting argan oil producers in Morocco with customers.
- **2010** — Awarded a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for doctoral study at MIT.
- **2013** — Completed the MIT dissertation A Positive Approach to Sustainability; co-founded design platform Pixineo with Ali Panjwani.
- **2015** — Function of Beauty founded by Dossa, Joshua Maciejewski and Hien Nguyen, now Hien Nguyen Kaplan.
- **2016** — Function of Beauty participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch.
- **2017** — Co-authored Beyond the Triple Bottom Line: Eight Steps toward a Sustainable Business Model with Francisco Szekely, published by MIT Press.
- **2020** — Function of Beauty announced a $150 million strategic minority investment from L Catterton and its first mass retail expansion into Target.
- **2021** — Moved from CEO to executive chairman as Alexandra Papazian became CEO.

## Achievements

- Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow, class of 2010.
- Selsabila received a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace award.
- Co-founded Function of Beauty and led it as CEO before becoming executive chairman in 2021.
- Reported an automated fulfillment milestone of one of 27 trillion possible formulas in eight seconds in a 2018 Y Combinator interview.
- Function of Beauty announced a $150 million strategic minority investment in December 2020.
- Co-authored Beyond the Triple Bottom Line, which earned bronze in the sustainability category of the 2018 Axiom Business Book Awards.

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Function of Beauty, the company Dossa co-founded, appointed Monica Belsito CEO.
- **2024-08** — MIT Press published the paperback edition of Beyond the Triple Bottom Line, co-authored by Dossa and Francisco Szekely.
- **2023-03** — Listed as co-founder and executive chairman among speakers for the Beauty Tech & Innovation Summit in San Francisco.

## Links

- Website: https://www.functionofbeauty.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dossa/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/zahir_dossa

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/zahir-dossa
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12