MYAVANA – a beauty-tech company founded by black female tech entrepreneur Candace Mitchell Harris – announced a new experiential partnership with Ulta Beauty, with strategic investments from Prisma Ventures, the beauty retailer’s digital innovation fund, and the BrainTrust Fund.
As a major component of the strategic partnership, Ulta Beauty unveiled a new Virtual Hair Analysis tool – which integrates MYAVANA’s HairAI technology and empowers guests to gain a comprehensive understanding of their hair type and receive personalized product recommendations. This tool will seamlessly integrate within Ulta Beauty’s e-commerce virtual try-on experiences, revolutionizing the way customers explore and select hair care products.
BrainTrust Fund – which invests in breakthrough brands led by at least one Black founder that serves the majority – also made a strategic investment in MYAVANA alongside Prisma Ventures. The funding will go towards their enterprise retail expansion, including salon channels and global product distribution leveraging the company’s consumer intelligence across the hair industry.
Candace Harris founded MYAVANA in 2012, utilizing 17 years of experience in computer science to develop AI haircare technology that analyzes the variables of hair strands and hair products to produce personalized hair care plans that support healthy hair and hair growth. She is a pioneer within a space that is overwhelmingly homogenous and non-inclusive, carving out solutions for BIPOC women, a group often ignored.
KEY QUOTES:
“Through Prisma Ventures, Ulta Beauty’s digital innovation fund, we’re always looking to support and invest in technologies that will pave the path forward for the world of beauty – especially those with like-minded values aiming to innovate the space through an inclusive lens. Candace’s visionary approach to digitizing beauty experiences for all hair types, including textured hair, is incredibly unique, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with MYAVANA on their mission to open new doors for more guests through hair analysis technology.”
– Agustina Sartori, Senior Director of Digital Innovation at Ulta Beauty & Managing Director of Prisma Ventures
“Myavana is emerging as a leader in beauty AI because its hair strand analysis super-serves every customer in this valuable marketplace, from the shopper seeking a personalized diagnosis, to retailers and stylists wanting to sell the right products to shoppers the first time. We’re looking forward to working with Candace and her team as the brand continues to accelerate.”
– BrainTrust Fund General Partners Kendra Bracken-Ferguson and Lisa Stone
“In the beginning at MYAVANA, we set out on a mission to transform the hair industry through science and technology and I am ecstatic to partner with Ulta Beauty to begin this digital transformation in retail. Through our personalized hair care technology that will innovate and elevate our shopping experiences, we’re excited to bring to market better identification and understanding of our unique hair strands and unique hair journeys while partnering with the nation’s largest beauty retailer that prioritizes innovation and inclusion.”
– Candace Harris, CEO & Founder of MYAVANA
