Mira Beauty has gathered a group of investors spanning cosmetics conglomerates, technology, and consumer venture capital firms, as well as marquee brand founders, in a $9 million funding round to fuel growth.
WHO: Founded by Stanford graduates Jay Hack and Brandon Garcia, Mira reaches millions of beauty shoppers weekly; counts over 100,000 products from more than 3,000 brands; and translates over 10 million product pages, authentic reviews, photos, and videos into one clear, simple, and personalized shopping experience that is retailer agnostic and transparent. Using modern machine-learning techniques, Mira provides a personalized and prescriptive end-to-end beauty browsing experience democratizing the world of beauty by translating millions of product reviews into digestible product synopses. Users can find out what consumers really think, do side-by-side comparisons, and click through to purchase their favorite products for the best price. At any time, users can ask for advice and get product recommendations from users with similar skin types, skin tones, and aesthetic preferences.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: With this latest round of seed funding, Jay Hack, co-founder and CEO, said the company is focused on taking a verticalized approach to beauty shopping in collaboration with its customers: “Our belief is that beauty should be a celebration of personal choice. We designed Mira Beauty to improve the accuracy and relevance of beauty product searches and recommendations per individual. Beauty consumers increasingly want to interact with brands and purchase products online in a way that feels authentic, frictionless and collaborative, and today’s specialty retailers, direct-to-consumer stores and marketplaces are ill-equipped to retrofit their businesses to this new reality. We are thrilled to partner with 14W, Unilever and other like-minded investors who have track records of backing market-leading innovations.”
“Mira Beauty is like Netflix: It rolls exactly what you want to see, and seamlessly,” said Ally Tam, who led the partnership for 14W. “Mira Beauty was quick to carve a niche for itself where all individuals can easily find the products that work for them, and we believe this new capital will help the company scale their services to meet the demands of a rapidly growing online audience.”
“This round of funding is the result of impressive business fundamentals for Mira Beauty, and it will help further the company’s mission to impart the knowledge and experiences of the beauty community,” said Stephen Willson, Investment Director at Unilever Ventures, the venture capital and private equity arm of Unilever. “Mira Beauty is well-positioned to deliver cutting-edge technology to beauty e-commerce, alongside more simplicity and transparency.”
“No two people are the same, and each person’s skin can need different things at differing times. Personalization is the future of the beauty industry—from platforms to products—meeting peoples’ unique needs is key to success,” said JR Little, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing at Dermalogica. “The brands and businesses that move fast into personalization at scale will win over the long-term.”
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