Live Tinted has closed a Series A fundraising round of $10 million led by Monogram Capital Partners, bringing the total funding raised to date to $15 million.

WHO: Los Angeles-based Live Tinted was founded in 2018 and launched its first product, Huestick, in May 2019 leveraging the #TintFam community that founder Deepica Mutyala, a Texas native of South Asian descent, built after a 2015 YouTube video went viral. At the time, she was a senior manager of brand development at Birchbox; she went on to become an influencer and is now brand founder of an inclusive color range of hybrid products.

WHY: The brand will use the fresh capital to fuel growth at Ulta Beauty, expanding the marketing and executive team as well as employing the capital for product innovation and category expansion.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “From the outset, Live Tinted really stood out to us as an inclusive and solutions-oriented brand for people with melanin-rich skin,” states Oliver Nordlinger, co-founder and Partner of Monogram Capital Partners. “Collaborating with Deepica and the rest of the Live Tinted team has been such a pleasure and we remain incredibly excited for all of the growth ahead.”

“Live Tinted started for me as a way to bring an underrepresented community together. The process of raising and closing the funding was one of the toughest business journeys I’ve been through, especially as a woman of color,” says Deepica Mutyala, CEO and founder of Live Tinted. “I wanted to find the right partners and investors to share my vision and beliefs for Live Tinted’s future, who could also help the brand continue to grow and make a mark in the beauty industry.”

“Ulta Beauty has been deeply inspired by Deepica’s solution driven and inclusive mission, even early on in our conversations during the development stage of Live Tinted’s first prototypes,” shares Muffy Clince, Director of Emerging Brands at Ulta Beauty. "Throughout the brand’s journey—from launching within Sparked at Ulta Beauty as an emerging brand in 2021, to now—we have continuously seen strong engagement from our guests and it has become one of our fastest growing emerging brands in the cosmetic category. We are so excited about the future growth potential for LiveTinted and the plans we have in place to further accelerate the brand this year!”

DETAILS: 

• Live Tinted closed a $10 million Series A round of funding led by Monogram Capital Partners with participation by Unilever Ventures, Devonshire Partners, and Silas Capital.
• The brand has reportedly sold 1 million units since it launched in 2018 and is the first-ever South Asian brand to be available at Ulta, and continues to be the fastest-growing beauty brand in the retailer's Sparked program.
• Named Ulta’s Emerging Brand of the Year in 2021, Live Tinted continues to launch new products focused on bridging makeup and skincare for all skin types and tones. 
• In October 2021, Live Tinted raised more than $3 million in a seed round of funding led by Montage Ventures with participation by Halogen Ventures, Curate Capital, and Fearless Fund.
• In 2019, the brand closed a $1.7 million pre-seed round of funding from Bobbi Brown, Toni Ko (founder of NYX Cosmetics), Hayley Barna (Birchbox), Payal Kadakia (founder of ClassPass), Andy Dunn (CEO and co-founder of Bonobos), Jaimie Schmidt (founder of Schmidt Deodorant), Shivani Siroya (founder of Tala), and Shilpa Shah (co-founder and CXO of Cuyana).