10Beauty (the creator of the first full salon-quality manicure machine) announced it would launch at the end of this year, having secured $38 million in equity financing, including a newly closed $17 million extension to their Series A led by Shine Capital. Imaginary Ventures, Lerer Hippeau and Red Sea Ventures led their previous funding rounds.
The company’s first 1,000 machines are sold out, as the company solidified pre-sale deals with four enterprise customers, including Nordstrom and Ulta Beauty, and dozens of high-end hair salons. And the company plans to install The 10 at 1,000 initial locations, representing a run rate of $13 million in annual manicure pod subscription revenue. These partnerships have the potential to eventually represent $50 million in revenue and presence at 3,000 locations.
10Beauty is the only company in the world building technology capable of performing a full manicure without human intervention. This is how it works: insert in a pod, customize the manicure on a mobile app, slip in your hand, and let the machine remove the polish, file and shape the nails, brush away the cuticles, apply new polish, and dry the final product. And the full manicure process takes roughly as long as a traditional manicure, but on the customer’s timetable.
Founded in 2019, the company is driven by a team of 35 of the world’s most talented engineers working in stealth over three years to bring to life what was, until recently, a complete moonshot. And this team has extensive experience, having collectively launched over 75 new robotics products. 10Beauty is also committing new financing to deepen its talent pool, perfecting manufacturing capabilities, and laying the groundwork for the upcoming launch into a highly eager marketplace.
Manicures take too long, the quality is inconsistent, and recipients cannot multitask. And getting a manicure every two weeks consumes roughly a full day of the year. This process is not a fit when busy people want to accomplish more with limited time.
The company brought in a world-class team of investors, including Lerer Hippeau and the founders of Warby Parker, Harry’s and Allbirds through their venture fund, Good Friends. And several celebrity investors have also provided financial backing, including Sara and Erin Foster, who discussed 10Beauty’s founding story on their weekly podcast.
Alex Shashou and Justin Effron co-founded 10Beauty and serve as co-CEOs. And Alex and Justin previously founded ALICE, a B2B hospitality software platform acquired by Expedia Group, Inc. for $130 million. Chris Casey, co-founder and CTO is a robotics expert with more than 25 years’ experience in developing consumer robotics, having been on the original team that invented the Roomba robot vacuum for iRobot, where he spent 13 years.
KEY QUOTES:
“The way beauty services are delivered has not meaningfully changed over the course of our lifetimes. For decades, getting your hair, nails or makeup done required relying on someone else’s timetable and commitment to excellence. The 10 is built for convenience and consistent quality, regardless of where the manicure is performed.”
– 10Beauty co-founders and co-CEOs Alex Shashou and Justin Effron
“For years, companies have attempted to launch nail painting robots but to limited customer adoption given none of them can perform a full manicure. We started this process thinking primarily about the at-home market, but then were blown away by how much demand there was from businesses that wanted to offer manicures to their customers without any of the traditional overhead.”
“Our goal is to make the manicure the most convenient beauty service available. We will accomplish this by placing a machine everywhere our customer already is so they can get a manicure while getting their hair done, visiting the spa, shopping, working or performing other tasks. We know our customers live in a right-here-right-now era and are hungry for better options when it comes to beauty services. The expectation has been set for products to fit conveniently into the existing flow of life, whether someone is working out, brewing a cup of coffee, attending a board meeting, or conducting just about any other task in the day.”
– Shashou and Effron
