Beauty Tech Company to Increase Lounges at Walmart

Mayvenn, a venture-backed beauty tech company, has revealed it raised $40 million in a Series C round of funding that will primarily go toward expanding its new physical beauty experiences, currently being piloted in five Walmart stores in Texas, across the U.S. Created in partnership with the retail giant, Mayvenn's Beauty Lounges offer a wide assortment of hair extensions and wigs for purchase and free consultations. They also serve as virtual booking centers, where customers can digitally browse local Mayvenn network stylists and book salon services. The dedicated spaces also generate product sale revenue and marketplace salon services revenue. They are heavily augmented with technology and aim to be entirely inclusive to women of color. With the new funding, Mayvenn plans to expand the Beauty Lounges and virtual booking services to 400 Walmart locations, significantly scaling Mayvenn's brand and platform and helping drive income to tens of thousands of local hair stylists and small salon businesses. Mayvenn, which was founded in 2013, is a mission-driven company helping beauty professionals increase their earning potential using technology. The Mayvenn platform enables stylists to earn money selling beauty products and, over the past two years, has expanded into a marketplace, offering salon services through its curated network of more than 50,000 hair stylists nationwide. The services marketplace, combined with the e-commerce platform, lay the foundation for an end-to-end beauty ecosystem of services and products, according to a news release. The platform was also created to simplify the beauty experience for consumers. "I couldn't be more excited to partner with Walmart to bring Mayvenn's brand and platform into the real world," said Diishan Imira, CEO and co-founder of Mayvenn, in the release. "These Mayvenn Beauty Lounges are more than retail experiences — they drive digital bookings to local small salon businesses, bringing them added income, which is core to our mission." "Supporting diverse businesses is a priority for Walmart," said Darryl Spinks, senior director, Walmart Services, in the release. "Innovative businesses like Mayvenn bring a fresh perspective to a segmented industry. They are making products and services more accessible while also giving other small business owners an opportunity to grow. We're excited to offer this experience to the community while collaborating with Mayvenn as they grow." In addition to financing the Beauty Lounge experience at Walmart, funds from the recent Series C raise will also support the continued expansion of Mayvenn's digital platform into more productivity tools for stylists, according to the release. The Series C round was led by Chicago-based venture fund Cleveland Ave, with participation from the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management andAndreessen Horowitz (a16z). Cleveland Ave, which was founded by the former CEO of McDonalds, invests retail technology, and brings value to the partnership through its internal consulting firm "Edge Consulting," which specializes in retail operations, and has experience working with Walmart. "Mayvenn aims to deliver a first-class beauty experience for women by partnering with stylists and delivering unprecedented economics to these important entrepreneurs," said Ben Horowitz, co-founder and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, in the release. "The Walmart relationship moves the transaction from the virtual to the physical world and dramatically expands Mayvenn's reach. We believe they are now poised to become a top brand in women's beauty."

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