Morado, a two-month-old Colombian start-up aiming to digitize beauty salons in Latin America, has raised $5 million in a pre-seed funding round.

WHO: Colombia start-up Morado was founded by Angela Maria Acosta, an early Rappi employee, with the goal of reinventing the current supply chain for beauty salons through vertical software technology, access to credit, and next-day deliveries.

WHY: The start-up plans to use the capital to accelerate growth in its home country of Colombia and to position the brand in Mexico, where it intends to move during 2022.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "We are the everything store for beauty shops," Acosta, who also serves as the company's CEO, told TechCrunch. "At Morado, beauty shops can find everything they need to operate, from hair products to uniforms and cleaning products."

"There are more than 700,000 beauty salons in Latin America, and the industry supply chain hasn't changed for over 40 years," she said. "Eighty-five percent of beauty salons have still not adopted any kind of digital tool. The industry lacks technology in every aspect."

Daniel Lloreda, co-founder and general partner at H20 Capital Innovation, told TechCrunch, "We met Angie months before Morado was founded and were driven by her curiosity and desire to tackle an unsexy market ripe for disruption."

DETAILS:

• Morado raised $5 million in a pre-seed round. Tiger Global Management and H20 Capital Innovation co-led the round with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), QED, Latitud, and Village Global. A group of angel investors also put money in the round.
• In its first 30 days of operation, Morado says it "already has national coverage for deliveries in Colombia."
• The company also has more than 60 employees, 72% of which it says are women.