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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Bolt founder Ryan Breslow proposes returning as CEO with a $2 million bonus and $1 million back pay.</li><li>Breslow left Bolt in 2022 due to investor conflicts and has since run wellness marketplace Love.</li></ul>Bolt's founder and ex-CEO wants to return to the driver's seat — and he's asking for a hefty payday to come back.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bolt-ceo-calls-stripe-ycombinator-mob-bosses-twitter-silicon-valley-2022-1">Ryan Breslow,</a> who founded <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-breslow-startup-bolt-raising-new-funding-14-billion-valuation-2022-1">e-commerce software startup Bolt</a> a decade ago, proposed a deal to investors this week, The Information and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.newcomer.co/p/bolts-audacious-letter-to-investors">Eric Newcomer </a>reported Tuesday.The terms of the funding round were highly unusual, including a $2 million bonus for returning and $1 million in back pay for the two years he was away from the company, the outlets reported, citing a private equity partner who was involved in the deal. The partner has since said that his firm is no longer involved.Breslow left the company in early 2022 because of conflicts with investors. The 30-year-old entrepreneur's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2024/03/11/the-billion-dollar-unraveling-of-ryan-breslow/">career</a> has been marked by controversy, including lawsuits, a fight with an early investor, and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bolt-ceo-calls-stripe-ycombinator-mob-bosses-twitter-silicon-valley-2022-1">public spat</a> with competitor Stripe and Y Combinator.Bolt's interim CEO Justin Grooms wrote in a letter to investors reviewed by The Information that the company was raising $450 million in a Series F round that would value Bolt at over $14 billion. According to Newcomer, Bolt's annualized run-rate revenue was $28 million, and its gross profit was $7 million.The deal comes with several other eyebrow-raising clauses that would further benefit Breslow, reported Newcomer and The Information:<ul><li>Breslow would get an option to sell 10% of his shares and the right to purchase Bolt subsidiaries conscious.org and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/four-day-workweek-company-bolt-productivity-jobs-fridays-weekends-2022-3">fourdayweek.com </a>from the company for $1 at any time. Breslow had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-bolt-made-change-4-day-work-week-top-exec-2022-1">championed a four-day workweek</a>.</li><li>He would also get a new equity grant that would be "no less than the 90th percentile of CEO equity compensation packages of similar companies in Bolt's industry."</li><li>If Bolt hits a $50 billion valuation in a $100 million or greater fundraise, Breslow would receive an additional stock grant of 5% of the issued and outstanding Bolt shares.</li><li>The company would partner with Love, a wellness marketplace run by Breslow since he was ousted from Bolt.</li><li>Bolt would invest $10 million into The London Fund, a venture capital firm that appears to be one of the main investors in its current funding round. The Information reported Breslow is a director at the fund, which also invested in Love.</li></ul>Bolt's investors were also told that they would need to chip in more money for this funding round. If they fail to do so, Bolt would buy most of them out for one cent a share, a particularly aggressive "pay-to-play" move in the startup world, reported Newcomer.The proposal requires approval from an investor majority, and shareholders have from late Monday to Wednesday to decide, reported The Information.Bolt's prior investors include BlackRock, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, and Intuit, per PitchBook. Neither Bolt nor Breslow immediately responded to Business Insider's requests for comment, sent outside standard business hours.

E-commerce startup Bolt wants to raise new money under aggressive terms that could make its once-ousted founder rich, reports say

New Delhi, July 1 () Marico has now fully acquired Beardo, a startup company which operates into the men's grooming market, by buying 55 per cent additional shares, a move which will help FMCG firm to extend its play into the segment. Marico has acquired the remaining 55 per cent share of Zed Lifestyle, Beardo's parent firm, in an all-cash deal, making a step-down company. "The investment makes the investee company (Zed Lifestyle) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marico Ltd and gives Marico a complete control over the operations of the investee company," said Marico in a regulatory filing. Confirming the move, Venture Catalysts (VCats), an integrated incubator and accelerator platform, also announced a complete exit from Zed Lifestyle after the acquisition of its portfolio company Beardo by Marico. "Sensing the tremendous potential in the segment, Marico acquired an additional 55 per cent equity share in Beardo's parent company Zed Lifestyle Pvt Ltd earlier this week," said a statement from VCats. Marico had made an investment in the company in March 2017, which was equivalent to 45 per cent of the issued and paid-up share capital of Zed Lifestyle. Beardo, which sells beard oils, beard waxes, soaps, and other products for men's facial hair, had a turnover of Rs 78.49 crore in FY 2019-20. Founded by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah in 2015, Beardo is one of VCats' earliest bets. KRH MKJ

Marico fully acquires men's grooming startup Beardo

<ul><li>Google just announced the 10 startups that have been shortlisted for the second calls of its Launchpad Accelerator program in India.</li><li>All of the startups on the list have used artificial intelligence and machine learning to formulate their products.</li></ul> Google just announced the second wave of startups selected for their Launch Accelerator program in India. And, all the startups on the list feature use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in one or the other component of their businesses. The program kicks off today with a one week mentorship programme boot camp organised by Google in Bengaluru which will be followed by more classes in April and May to address more specific issues — lasting a total of three months. Aside from guidance, Google will also provide support for AI and ML, cloud computing, developing user interfaces, using the Android platform, online presence, product strategy and marketing. And depending on the startup, they will be receiving Google Cloud Credits between $20,000 (₹1.3 million) to $100,000 (₹6.9 million). Meet the 10 startups that were shortlisted for Google’s second class of the Launchpad Accelerator program in India: 1. Opentalk Opentalk is an app that allows users to reach out to other users all over the world to hone their language skills. So users can meet new people that speak the language that they’re looking to learn. They also have the options for users to follow trending topics in case their looking to engage on a particular issue. OpenTalk already has a 100 languages, 150 countries and 1500 colleges using their app. 2. THB THB stands for Technology, Healthcare and Big Data Analytics and a pretty accurate description of the what the company does. Using technology they standardise data on healthcare to help healthcare providers and medical practitioners with different use cases like PEP (Personalised Patient Care), medical sales force productivity booster and clinical decision support. Based out of Gurgaon, the clinical intelligence company is currently present in 50 cities across 12 states in India. 3. Perceptiviti Data Solutions Having started out in 2017, Perceptiviti Data Solutions focused on finding solutions for fraud and risk management in insurance, financial services and digital payment services. Their flagship product called ‘Sherlock’ is a fraud detection platform that claims 90% accuracy after having assessed over one million insurance claims using AI. 4. DheeYantra DheeYatra is already in use by the Syndicate Bank and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. It’s an AI platform that currently helps businesses operate across 8 different Indian languages. With the help of AI, the company has developed chatbots and solutions in natural language processing (NLP), optical character recognition (OCR), and Indic transliteration. Brand names, scanned images and even a whole website can be translated into various Indian vernacular languages using their application programming interfaces (APIs). 5. FinancePeer Just like there are peer-to-peer (P2P) online marketplaces for cars and used goods, FinancePeer is a P2P lending company that connects lenders with borrowers online. Users can sign up as borrowers or lenders after the platform analyses their borrower credit score using AI that taps into multiple parameters including social profiles. The company claims that it only takes 10 minutes to set up a profile online and since it’s an open marketplace, borrowers will only face competitive and low interest rates. Lenders, on the other hand, can allegedly get returns upto 37% per annum. 6. SmartCoin Gunning for financial inclusion in India, SmartCoin is another lending app that uses AI and machine learning to assess the risk profile of a borrower. The app main goal is to provide short-term credit to the underserved and low-income households in India. So far, SmartCoin has a 100,000 users and has shelled out over 300,000 loans. 7. HRBOT Finding new candidates for a job can be excruciating process without a filtering mechanism in place. HRBOT, using AI and machine learning to scan the 120,000 job seekers on its platform to find applicants that would be best suited for a particular post according to the requirements that recruiters share. It company’s main selling point is that it has access to candidates in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India. 8. Savera.ai The use of solar panels to reduce the burden of electricity requirements and its positive environment impact are no secret. But since the technology is still relatively new in India, Savera.ai helps users decide whether or not their roof is ready for a solar panel by issuing a ‘Sun Score’. The ‘Sun Score’ is the final ranking of how ready an individual’s house is for a solar panel after analysing the location of a users’ house, identifying the rooftop, running a weather analysis and taking individual state’s solar policy into account. And, should a user choose to set up a solar panel, savera.ai has chatbot support to get them setup with local service providers. 9. Kaleidofin This is essentially a financial management tool. Users can set their financial goals and Kaleidofin will suggest how much user should saved each month while taking financial volatilities into account. Since the profile is tailored for each user, how a user’s savings should be used is also diversified over different financial products including ways to invest using a data driven model to estimate the income level, saving capacity and financial health of customers. It’s already being used by many mutual funds in India like Aditya Birla Capital, Franklin Templeton Investments, HDFC Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, and SBI Mutual Fund. 10. Adiuvo Diagnostics The company isn’t just an app or a platform — but has an actual physical device which can detect and classify skin infections in under 2 minutes. It’s easy for doctors because the ‘Skin-Scope’ is a handheld medical device and the pro for patients is that the whole diagnostic process is non-invasive. Kaleidofin and Adiuvo Diagnostics are the only two startups selected that have women entrepreneurs at the helm. Google initially started the Launchpad Accelerator Program globally back in 2016. The very first batch of the Launchpad Accelerator that was originally a 6-month mentorship at the Google headquarters in California included Nestaway, a Ratan Tata investment that helps users find homes without a broker. Another well known startup, ShareChat — a social networking chat platform that uses local Indian languages — was also a part of the Launchpad Accelerator in the second batch. The Launchpad Accelerator India was only introduced by Google in July 2018 that saw startups like Multibhashi, OliveWear and Genrobotics. Aside from India, the program also operates in Sao Paulo, Tel Aviv, Nigeria, Tokyo and Singapore. So far, it has mentored 30 startups in India through its global accelerator programme. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-how-to-make-it-to-Googles-Launchpad-AcceleratorProgram/articleshow/52359183.cms" style="">Here’s how to make it to Google's Launchpad Accelerator Program</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-what-is-in-store-for-these-7-indian-startups-selected-for-googles-launchpad-accelerator-program/articleshow/55682687.cms" style="">Here's what's in store for these 7 Indian Startups selected for Google's Launchpad Accelerator Program</a>

Google will groom these 10 Indian startups that use AI and machine learning

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Profitboss is a startup that offers a free online ordering system and customized advertisements to <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword>.</li><li>The company recently wrapped up a $3.5 million seed round led by <keyword id="355019" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Redpoint-Ventures">Redpoint Ventures</keyword> and joined by Kimbal Musk, Figma CEO Dylan Field, AngelList cofounder Naval Ravikant, The Chainsmokers, Tinder cofounder Sean Rad, and others.</li><li>CEO Adam Guild, 21, first built the company's core technology to help his mother's struggling dog grooming business.</li><li>Since the beginning of the U.S. outbreak of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>, the company has shifted to helping restaurant owners get more return business from take-out orders.</li></ul>Profitboss CEO Adam Guild has boundless energy. The 21-year-old founder can speak several paragraphs worth of information in a minute. That animated style and depth of knowledge is one reason venture capitalists decided to invest in <a href="https://profitboss.com/">his startup</a>, which he founded at 18.The company recently wrapped up a $3.5 million seed round led by Redpoint Ventures and joined by Kimbal Musk, Figma CEO Dylan Field, AngelList cofounder Naval Ravikant, The Chainsmokers, Tinder cofounder Sean Rad, and others.The company provides restaurants with a free digital storefront that collects data from orders to build customer profiles. Restaurants can then use that information to send customers regular, targeted advertisements, known as "drip campaigns," which Guild <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-21-year-old-ceo-turned-helping-his-mother-2020-10">previously told Business Insider</a> creates a higher rate of return business."We basically feed them personalized drip campaigns that are relevant specifically to them talking about the restaurant's most popular dishes, about dishes on their menu that they might like based on what they've ordered in the past," Guild told Business Insider.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-21-year-old-ceo-turned-helping-his-mother-2020-10">How a 21-year-old CEO turned helping his mother's struggling business into a startup that landed a $3.5 million seed round</a>Guild first developed a version of the technology Profitboss uses for another reason: To help his mother's struggling dog grooming shop."She happened to pick a street that didn't have a lot of car traffic, and didn't have a lot of foot traffic," Guild said, "and so finding customers for her dog grooming store was super challenging."With only a few month's worth of cash left, his mother turned to her "nerdy son" for help.<h2>When traditional social media marketing failed, Guild turned to another method</h2>Guild tried using conventional digital advertising strategies on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp.Ultimately, "They were really bad for two reasons," Guild said. "Number one, we couldn't measure if they were actually contributing to the growth of the business, like where the customers were actually coming from. Number two, clearly they weren't actually contributing new customers, regardless of how many impressions they told us that website link got, because there just weren't that many customers in the first place."That led Guild to build his mother a webpage that used marketing tactics to turn websites visitors into paying customers. The method is called "conversion rate optimization," a practice aimed at pushing online visitors to take specific actions, usually by testing out different offers and ad copy until it finds the ones that work best.Within three months his mother hit her three-year revenue projections, and Guild had the spark of a new idea. He brought his idea to a local restaurant, and then another; in 2018, he founded Profitboss and quickly began pulling in customers. <h2>He realized he could apply this method to another industry in need</h2>After the U.S. outbreak of COVID-19 made it difficult and dangerous for restaurants to pull in physical customers, Guild shifted the focus of Profitboss to addressing the difficulty of building relationships with remote customers."I sent a bunch of cold emails, thousands of them to restaurant owners that I didn't know to try and understand what their biggest problems were during this time, what specifically was keeping them up at night," Guild said.Guild didn't share specific numbers, but said that "hundreds" of restaurants across the country were using his platform, with high concentrations in Southern California and Florida.<h2>His ingenuity and good character won him the trust of investors</h2>His quick pivot won him the respect of lead Redpoint investor <keyword id="10164239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="alex-bard">Alex Bard</keyword>, who himself ran a failed restaurant before his time in venture capital."A signal of a really great entrepreneur is they can see the game that's being played on field, what's happening in the environment, and have the agility to be able to flex through that, to be able to deliver value and take advantage of that opportunity," Bard told Business Insider. "The fact that he sort of integrated into this as COVID was beginning, I think, is a strong signal of his ability."Bard told Business Insider that while he backs up all of his investing decisions with facts and figures, his gut feeling about the founder is often the deciding factor. In Guild's case, the story of how he helped his mother gave Bard a positive impression of his intelligence and character."Everyone in this life faces different sorts of challenges," Bard said, "and some people succumb to those challenges. And some people really thrive out of facing that adversity, and he really thrived."

How a 21-year-old CEO landed $3.5 million for software that he originally built to help his mom's struggling dog grooming business keep repeat customers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Birchbox pioneered the monthly beauty subscription box and was once valued at nearly $500 million. </li><li>But after some financial setbacks, Birchbox was acquired 10 years after launch for just $45 million.</li></ul>Birchbox is back.The company that pioneered the subscription beauty-box segment in 2011 has resumed shipping products to customers after a tumultuous few years that saw significant fulfillment interruptions as the brand was sold off twice.It's the latest development following a yearslong decline for Birchbox, the once-hot startup that in 2014 boasted hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a $485 million valuation.Just seven years later, in late 2021, startup FemTec Health acquired the brand for $45 million, a fraction of its former valuation, following layoffs and a dwindling customer base.Last year, Birchbox seemed to have all but disappeared, leaving frustrated vendors and customers in its wake who said the company owed them money.Then, in May, FemTec sold off Birchbox's assets to Retention Brands to satisfy creditors, the companies said.Here's how a once-hot startup got its start, defined a category, then seemingly vanished, and is now seeking to stage a comeback.<h2>Birchbox was founded by two Harvard Business School grads</h2><div type="image" title="birchbox founders ceo katia beauchamp haylet barna" height="1200" width="1599" msid="98567725" hostid="261"></div>Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna came up with the idea for Birchbox back in 2009 while they were students at Harvard Business School. The company was modeled off of what Netflix was doing at the time for movies: sending customers DVDs in the mail for a flat monthly fee.Instead of movies, Birchbox customers would receive designer beauty products, many of them in miniature size, from the likes of Nars and Kiehl's for $10 per month. "We were inspired by other companies doing similar things — <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/netflix" class="hidden_link" rel="">Netflix</a> and Zappos," Beauchamp <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/birchbox-katia-beauchamp-harvard-2011-8" rel="nofollow sponsored">told Insider in 2011</a>. "Our goal was to change the way that consumers shop online." Beauchamp and Barna secured $1.4 million in seed funding prior to launch, and by 2011, had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/makeup-at-your-doorstep-startup-birchbox-closes-a-105-million-round-2011-8" rel="nofollow sponsored">raised another $10.5 million in Series A funding</a> from the likes of Accel Partners and First Round Capital.By then, 45,000 customers had signed on for monthly beauty boxes and the company had begun expanding to other categories, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/birchbox-for-men-coming-in-time-for-the-holidays-2011-10" rel="nofollow sponsored">like men's grooming</a>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/birchbox-first-retail-store-2014-7" rel="nofollow sponsored">Birchbox opened its first retail store</a> in 2014 in New York's SoHo neighborhood, where shoppers could test out products and build their own Birchbox.The company also <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/21/birchbox-raises-60-million/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">raised another round of funding</a>, this time $60 million, which pushed the startup's valuation to $485 million.By the time it raised its Series B, Birchbox counted 800,000 subscribers and had acquired a French competitor. <h2>The subscription box market quickly became crowded</h2><div type="image" title="Employee sits working next to sign that says Birchbox inside company headquarters" height="1666" width="2222" msid="98567727" hostid="261"></div>While Birchbox was an innovator in the world of monthly subscription boxes, by the mid-2010s you could subscribe to regular deliveries of anything from razors to lingerie to dog food.But the startup had also spawned imitators in the beauty industry, which meant that Birchbox was losing market share.In 2016, The Wall Street Journal counted <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/birchbox-retrenches-amid-rapid-rise-in-competition-cash-squeeze-1465983002" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">at least 300 subscription beauty services</a> and noted that rival service Ipsy was beating Birchbox in terms of subscribers: Ipsy had over 1.5 million, while Birchbox had just over 1 million. And while Birchbox offered customers the option to buy full-size products after they'd tried the mini version, it didn't result just in more sales for Birchbox — the company was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/beauty-startup-birchbox-is-boosting-the-sales-of-competitors" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored">bolstering sales at traditional retailers too</a>.Bloomberg reported Sephora and Ulta were getting a 5% and 6% sales boost, respectively, from Birchbox subscribers. Meanwhile, Sephora had launched a monthly beauty box of its own. Barna, the cofounder and co-CEO, announced in 2016 she was <a href="https://fortune.com/2016/02/16/birchbox-co-founder-hayley-barna-joins-first-round-capital/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored">leaving the company</a> to join venture capital firm and Birchbox investor First Round Capital.That same year, Birchbox started scaling back its growth plans, pausing on new physical store openings, suspending plans to expand in China, shrinking its New York City headquarters space, and cutting about 50 of its 300 employees, The Journal reported at the time. <h2>After funding struggles and layoffs, Birchbox was acquired</h2><div type="image" title="birchbox 3833" height="1500" width="2000" msid="98567729" hostid="261"></div>By 2018, Birchbox was struggling to secure more funding or find a buyer.The company ultimately raised debt financing <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/01/birchbox-ownership-changes-hands-after-beauty-business-does-recap/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">following a $15 million buyout</a> and later <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/01/birchbox-ownership-changes-hands-after-beauty-business-does-recap/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">struck a deal with Walgreens</a> to install Birchbox shops within select stores. Walgreens also took a minority stake in the company. Meanwhile, Birchbox's subscriber count was dropping, and the company <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/beauty/birchbox-beauty-samples-new-pricing?_gl=1*abjp58*_ga*MTU5OTIxMzI4OC4xNjY4MDI4NTc5*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3ODMwODM4OC4zMDUuMS4xNjc4MzA5MTg4LjAuMC4w" rel="nofollow sponsored">raised its monthly subscription price</a> for the first time in its history.Birchbox <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/birchbox-ceo-layoffs-quarter-of-employees-2020-2" rel="nofollow sponsored">conducted another round of layoffs</a> in early 2020, downsizing its global team by roughly 25%. In October 2021, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90692072/after-a-decade-of-ups-and-downs-birchbox-is-sold-heres-what-we-learned" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Birchbox was acquired by FemTec Health</a>, a startup focused on using technology to "transform the total healthcare experience for women."FemTec Health paid $45 million for Birchbox and the deal resulted in Beauchamp, the remaining cofounder and CEO, leaving and selling her stake in the business. Beauchamp has since become CEO of Victoria Beckham Beauty.<h2>Customers accused Birchbox of having 'vanished'</h2><div type="image" title="A Birchbox subscription box with assorted makeup and skincare items to its right one of the best subscription boxes" height="900" width="1200" msid="98567731" hostid="261"></div>A year later, red flags had started to appear. An Axios investigation found that <a href="https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2022/10/06/femtec-health-struggles-layoffs-debt-acquisitions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FemTec Health hadn't paid some of its vendors</a> and a content creator.Some of those bills still hadn't been paid as of January 2023, and one vendor took the company to court over the missed payments, <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/birchbox-customer-complaints-website-down-vendor-debts/643963/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Retail Dive reported.</a>Months earlier, in November 2022, Birchbox was said to be considering filing for bankruptcy, <a href="https://wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/beauty-features/birchbox-said-weighing-options-bankruptcy-1235406684/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">WWD reported</a>. Around the same time the brand posted a statement on Instagram acknowledging its struggles. "Birchbox is facing a host of unprecedented setbacks that are affecting all of you, our cherished members," the post read. "Within the next couple of weeks, we will be able to share details about the future and what you can expect." Social media comments flooded in from users who said they were frustrated longtime customers, with many saying they hadn't received a box since October. "What a joke," one Instagram user wrote at the time. "I paid for a year subscription and only got 3 months worth before the company just vanished. And I've been a customer for YEARS."Birchbox's website also appeared to be disabled for several weeks.On May 12, FemTec announced Birchbox's assets had been sold the month before to Retention Brands, an investor in e-commerce and subscription businesses. Retention Brands "is poised to deliver excellent customer service and a delightful customer experience," FemTec said in a statement.A month later, Birchbox <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Birchbox/posts/pfbid0JmWF6UiHGceDHH6H7ae9G9p7f1VCNRHPD34A4QWpCgWWFYZ2wceesHXrJgqvQmaXl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that fulfillment had restarted, with unfilled orders from September and October shipping on June 14. The company said technical limitations prevented customization of June boxes and the feature would return in July, with new member signups resuming at that time as well.In August, the company raised the monthly price for its existing Ace members from $10 to $15, while new <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=ca55745ea5ac0455d40bb5301b11c45352af296e5ffd37ddfef7ed0694a939c9&amp;postID=640625af2001446e1a4bc284&amp;postSlug=birchbox-rise-fall-company-history-2023-3&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.birchbox.com%2Fall-plans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memberships</a> cost $20 when billed monthly.Various product sizes also now have assigned point values, ranging from one point for samples, two points for travel size, and four points for full size. Members can select six points' worth of products per monthly box.Facebook users reacted negatively to the changes, with several expressing disappointment at the selection, quality, and presentation of the boxes they received."So to recap, boxes cost more and they contain less," one commenter <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Birchbox/posts/pfbid02Ji1VNmfL8a3FQW1BTkQy2knKEMMdGYJjRfyVPe3C8CqFuEX6uL31cfmXnXEzPj5yl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "Great. I'm giving this one more month."The company <a href="https://help.birchbox.com/hc/en-us/articles/17994205249549-The-June-Box-and-July-Box" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it hopes to return to a "standard shipping cadence" for September.Avery Hartmans contributed the original version of this article.

The rise and fall of Birchbox, the once-buzzy startup that was sold off twice in 2 years and has recently resumed shipping boxes

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annelise-hillmann/">Annelise Hillmann</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-bunn-793244114/">Nick Bunn</a> are the cofounders of the men's grooming company <a href="https://befrontman.com/pages/about-frontman">Frontman</a>. </li><li>In January, the company closed a $1.2 million seed round led by venture firm <a href="https://www.rechargecapital.com/">Recharge Capital.</a> </li></ul>Name: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annelise-hillmann/">Annelise Hillmann</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-bunn-793244114/">Nick Bunn</a>Age: 23 and 24, respectivelyLocation: Brooklyn, New York Business: A men's skin-care and cosmetic company. Backstory: As a teenager, Annelise Hillmann remembers a plethora of skin-care and makeup options available to help treat and hide her breakouts. Her friend Nick Bunn had a different experience: There weren't many educational <keyword id="11915641" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="beauty" source="Orion">beauty</keyword> blogs for men to peruse when he was growing up, and he often found no immediate options to help his skin-care issues, he recalled."Together we realized the gender grooming gap between men and women," Hillmann told Insider. In January 2021, Hillmann and Bunn launched the company <a href="https://befrontman.com/pages/about-frontman">Frontman</a>, which provides cosmetic and skin-care products for men. Their mission is to "create this generation's go-to grooming brand that solves annoying pain points for guys." Last October, its first product, <a href="https://befrontman.com/products/frontman-fade">a concealer</a> to cover and treat acne, won the <a href="https://www.esquire.com/style/grooming/a37937031/esquire-grooming-awards-for-men-2021/">Esquire Grooming Award,</a> which annually taps the best products for men. Past winners <a href="https://www.esquire.com/style/grooming/a34427861/esquire-grooming-awards-for-men-2020/">include</a> hair brand <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wella-company-amplifies-growth-with-the-acquisition-of-briogeo-a-fast-growing-independent-hair-care-company-focused-on-eco-ethical-and-natural-hair-care-products-1031399721">Briogeo</a>, skin brand Peter Thomas Roth, and even Old Spice. Bunn says it's an excellent time to enter the global men's-personal-care space, which was valued at <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mens-personal-care-market">$30.8 billion</a> in 2021 by research database Grand View Research. Additionally, Generation Z is redefining the tropes that once defined masculinity — such as not wearing <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5kxx/men-makeup-trend-tiktok">makeup</a> or implementing a <a href="https://wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/beauty-features/mens-grooming-routine-skin-care-hair-makeup-personal-care-1234789561/">skin-care routine</a> — as more young men seek to exist in a world without judgment or stereotypes, he added."We have good winds blowing in our direction to help us shift the narrative around what products can be for men and what culture can be for them, too," Bunn said. <div type="image" title="Ingrown hair cream product from FRONTMAN" height="8192" width="5464" msid="91290229" hostid="261"></div>Growth: Frontman closed a $1.2 million seed round in January led by the venture firm, <a href="https://www.rechargecapital.com/">Recharge Capital.</a> Other investors included Stila Cosmetics founder <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/jeanine-lobell-neen-makeup-card">Jeanine Lobell</a> and actor <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nargisfakhri/?hl=en">Nargis Fakhri</a>, who has 6.9 million followers on Instagram. It released five new products this year, including an ingrown-hair remover, a razor-burn reliever, and sunscreen. Meanwhile, on TikTok, the company's <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/discover/befrontman">hashtag</a> has amassed 93.1 million views. The company booked six figures in lifetime sales through April 2022, by selling on its website and Amazon, which Insider confirmed with documentation. This year, the founders expect to make $1 million in revenue by entering brick-and-mortar retailers and expanding product offerings on its website.Before Frontman: Bunn and Hillmann attended Harvard University and launched Frontman while studying there. Bunn graduated in 2019 and briefly worked for Anheuser-Busch before leaving to help run Frontman. Hillmann operated a college advertising agency before graduating in 2020 to work at Frontman full time. Challenges: Learning how to run a direct-to-consumer retail company in college was difficult since the cofounders had to learn the nuances of manufacturing, credit lines, order quantities, and international logistics, Hillmann said. Business advice: "If you see something in the world that needs to change, don't wait for someone else to do it," Hillmann said. "Taking that first leap can be the hardest step, but it's just one of the many challenges you'll face on the founder journey." <div type="image" title="Annelise Hillmann smiles to the camera wearing a brown jacket" height="8192" width="5464" msid="91290231" hostid="261"></div>Business mentor: The founders count Lobell as a mentor and said she stressed the importance of creating a good product and putting consumers first."It's about what guys are looking for in terms of product formulation and marketing," Bunn said.Why now is the best time to start a business: "The pandemic has forced us to learn how to adapt, and adaptation is a vital skill for a founder," Hillmann said. "If you've been able to roll with the punches and remain sane, you're capable of starting something new." On hiring: Right now, the company has 10 full-time employees and plans to hire at least four more by end of this year. On managing burnout: Bunn and Hillmann turn to exercise to help decompress. Bunn likes to play water polo and Hillmann practices yoga every day."We realized burnout is the number-one risk to startup success," Hillmann said. "We actively encourage our team to take an unlimited vacation and mental-health days."

Meet the Gen Z founders behind a men's cosmetics company with $1.2 million in funding that aims to redefine male grooming

Personal grooming is a growing industry in India and is raising hairs of many start-ups in India since the past two years. Many companies have sprung up in this space notably <keyword id="2811049" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="urbanclap">Urbanclap</keyword>, <keyword id="6439410" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="housejoy">Housejoy</keyword>, StayGlad,Yes Madam, MyGlamm, <keyword id="3023137" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="vanitycube">VanityCube</keyword>, and many more, just to provide customers a better service at a great price. According to reports, the grooming market in India is valued at nearly Rs 50,000 crore and 85% of the business here comes from women, notably professionals with increasing disposable incomes in cities. While the industry quickly grew in investment in 2015, the next year saw many of them shutting down due to high losses. While VanityCube was acquired by VLCC, Vyomo got acquired by Naturals and Quikr acquired StayGlad players like Urbanclap, MyGlamm and Housejoy have reported increased revenue in the past year steering the roadblocks. The problem with the current model The beauty services industry is a complicated one and isn’t particularly eased by technology after the booking is made. The service offered needs to be of great quality every time so that the customer makes repeated purchases on a regular basis. Till a brand is created, growth will not come as start-ups focus on signups. As a platform, the management cannot make sure that every service is quality-checked. While most start-ups including Urbanclap, focus on providing the service to the customer at their homes, many consumers find that the beauty care ritual is a better experience in salons because of the hygienic and professional environment. As I have used Urbanclap and Housejoy in the past, I noticed that they are not particularly more affordable compared to neighbourhood salons. The solution to these two problems have been devised by two startups which is making waves in Delhi NCR for being different in the approach. <keyword id="4425546" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Be-U-Salons">Be U Salons</keyword> Be U operates in the B2B2C space and aims to fix the gap between the demand and supply in the salon industry through on-ground operations and advanced technology. Unlike the conventional models, the company signs up small salon owners and don’t levy any franchise fee or capital expenditure on the part of the salons. The company brands the salons completely and has created categories under which everything including the products used, services offered and the prices are replicated to ensure quality is delivered. Instead they charge a 15% commission on the overall salon revenue which varies on the salon category Red, Blue or Green which falls under different revenue slabs. Vikas Johari, CEO &amp; Founder, Be U Salons told Business Insider, “When I entered the salon industry with Monsoon salons, I noticed that the industry is suffering due to inefficiencies and running costs such as real estate rentals, promoter services etc. While Monsoon became a great salon brand in Delhi, I realized that a tech-enabled solution could help scale up the franchise model in place.” Enter asset-light tech-enabled Be U model which has low or no capital commitment, benefits of economies of scale, focus on core activities, automation and standardization due to strong tech support which helps existing small salons to achieve better productivity and profitability. How it works Be U Salons has an mobile app on android and <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> platforms that enables customers to make easy online appointments, mobile payments and check transaction history record. The app also has scope for feedback, reviews and ratings, loyalty programmes, no waiting time and real time services which ensures that all partner salons provide quality service. Not just that, the app offers its customers attractive ‘’freebies” like a free haircut or 100% cashback on digital payments which ensures that once someone uses the app, they come back for the great value for money. Currently, the company has 70 plus outlets operating across Delhi-NCR, and services about 900-1000 customers per day. <keyword id="795759" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yes-Madam">Yes Madam</keyword> Yes Madam is a nascent startup that has come up in some areas of Delhi NCR like Noida, Greater Noida and <keyword id="44991" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ghaziabad">Ghaziabad</keyword>. While this startup also provides its personal grooming services at home, it has a unique billing system which makes it affordable to most working women. The company charges its customers on per minute basis for Rupees 6 on any beauty service they want with extra service charge for better brands. During peak hours or weekends, the company charges Rs. 8 per minute which makes it still more affordable compared to the competitors. 
	
	<div type="image" title="Screenshot_2017-08-01-10-27-26-1" msid="61155045" hostid="261"></div>





 With Yes Madam app, the customers have the freedom to use their own product and the beautician. Another way to book can be through the call centre and Whatsapp which makes this startup more inclusive to people that might not have a smartphone or omnipresent internet connection. These new startups are engaging more people while using the resources differently but it will be interesting to see who leaves a last impression behind.

These personal grooming startups are leveraging technology differently compared to Urbanclap

As <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=investors">investors</a> are rushing to put money in new-born <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startup">startups</a>, there is more than moolah that startup founders want. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=founders">Startup founders</a> have begun giving more importance to their investors and are looking to bring <keyword id="1634680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="seed-investors">seed investors</keyword> on board under whom they can get the right grooming, in a bid to grow right. 
 
A good seed investor is one who works closely with the founders and helps them in analysing the product-market fit for their offering and standing out of the crowd. 
 
Paavan Nanda of ZO Rooms told ET it is very important for an investor to believe in a portfolio startup's vision, trust the team, and give them the freedom to work independently. 
 
Support from the beginning is critical in helping a startup scale quickly. 
 
In a survey of funded entrepreneurs by ET and Tracxn, seed investors in India were rated high for their ability to open doors for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=partnership">partnerships</a>, back founders' judgment, and reach out to other investors for the next <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=funding">funding</a> round. 
 
Mayank Kumar, cofounder and CEO of months-old logistics startup Opinio, benefitted from this. 
 
"Accel helped us tremendously in talent acquisition. They gave us a few personally vetted profiles within a 24-hour turnaround. They would also connect you to any CEO in the country immediately," said Kumar. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

New-born startups want parenting from investors for right grooming

Software product think tank iSPIRT has designed a programme where <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Stanford">Stanford</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Duke+University">Duke University</a> researchers would help founders of 200 hyper growth companies to plan ahead and implement the learnings in their organizations. The aim of the exercise is to inspire <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+startups">Indian startups</a> to be global category leaders. 
 
"We want them to become category leaders by making them think about future problems today," said Sharad Sharma, cofounder of iSpirt. "Because for a category leader, conversion rates are much higher than the number 2 or 3 players." 
 
The three-day retreat and conference would start this January where the 200 founders would begin their day with yoga and end it late night with brainstorming on strategies to supercharge their companies. The researchers are funding this programme through grants amounting to $57,000 (Rs 37 lakhs) endowed by their universities. 
 
"Anyone who sees the technology sector sees that the best pool of technical talent comes from India. But they are all working for American companies," said Sharique Hasan, associate professor of organisational behaviour at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Stanford">Stanford University</a>. 
 
 The goal of this programmed is to nail concepts of management into developing countries. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

iSPIRT to groom 200 Indian
startups at Infosys Mysuru

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. <a href="https://www.insider-inc.com/commerce-on-insider-inc/">Learn more.</a><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored"></a><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> is a new startup that's changing the way men shop for <keyword id="100128" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cologne">cologne</keyword> with its personalized fragrances.</li><li>After taking a 5-part quiz about yourself, <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> uses study-backed data and the expertise of renowned perfumers to formulate colognes and grooming products just for you.</li><li><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> then generates a personalized essentials list including two fragrances — one for work and one for play. You can buy both for $100, plus it comes with a free $20 gift card for future purchases.</li></ul>Every guy wants to smell great, but finding a cologne that's just right for you can be a gruesome task. It involves going to a department store and being bombarded by sales associates with sample strips and an arsenal of fragrances. When you finally come across a cologne that you like, there's a great chance you'll continue smelling and sampling in hopes of finding something you like even better. If you're not an expert in aromatics (and most people aren't), you'll quickly get sucked into wasting a lot of time.Instead of making a seemingly major life decision about what you want to smell like, new cologne startup <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> is an easy and accurate way to get cologne formulated specifically for you.Founded in by longtime friends Brian Jeong and Philip Wong, the brand aims to do two things — help men express their individuality with one-of-a-kind fragrances, and make the buying process a lot easier.<h2>Here's how it works</h2>Hawthorne uses your body chemistry, lifestyle data, and study-backed research to identify your scent preference with over 95% accuracy. You also get a list of essential custom products for your hair, face, hands, and body.To get started on your own personalized <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> cologne, you take a very simple quiz. It asks basic questions about your current cologne, diet, favorite drinks, personality, and style. Then, one of brand's three award-winning perfumers formulates two colognes for you — one for work and one for play. You can buy both for $100, plus it comes with a free $20 gift card for future purchases.<a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored"><div type="image" title="Hawthorne cologne" height="810" width="1080" msid="76394378" hostid="261"></div></a>To find out just how well the service works, <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> provided me with a promo code to use at checkout. I walked through the process like a normal customer would and couldn't be happier with what I received. It took about 10 minutes from start to checkout, which I thought was super fast. Initially, I was hesitant to believe they'd come up with fragrances I liked based off of a very simple quiz. Admittedly, I am very picky with stuff like cologne, but they were very on point. Before trying <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a>, I had been using the same Polo Sport and Polo Black colognes since high school. For a long time, I've wanted to try other options, but it was always hard to find something I liked without having to smell the entire men's <keyword id="40364" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Fragrance">fragrance</keyword> section. In the end, it turned out to be the easiest and most efficient way to buy cologne — it only took about two days to arrive. Both of the scents I received were new and refreshing, yet still in line with my personal preference. They were made by <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Hawthorne</a>'s five-time Men's Fragrance of the Year winner Oliver Gillotin, whose made fragrances for brands like Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and even Ralph Lauren (the brand I'd been wearing previously). I also really enjoyed the packaging. The two bottles came neatly packed in velvet-lined box. There's also a break down of the fragrances that went into making your personalized colognes.<a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored"><div type="image" title="Hawthorne cologne 3" height="975" width="1300" msid="76394382" hostid="261"></div></a><h2>The bottom line</h2>At essentially $50 each for two 1.7 oz bottles, <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> isn't particularly cheap, but it's also not the most expensive options on the market. Given the personalized touch and the convenience over buying cologne in a store, <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a> is definitely worth it. Whether you're looking for a new cologne or grooming products for yourself or shopping for a gift, I strongly recommend <a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Hawthorne</a>. When shopping for someone else you can either send him an eGift card to take the quiz or tailor a box specifically for him. With Father's Day coming up, this makes for a great gift for dads.<h3><a href="https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1132999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77325&amp;urllink=https%3A%2F%2Fhawthorne%2Eco%2F&amp;afftrack=2F&amp;afftrack=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Create your own personalized cologne at Hawthorne now, $100</a>.</h3>

This startup uses a personalized quiz to suggest one-of-a-kind colognes and grooming products for men — after trying it, I'll never shop for fragrances in a store again

<ul><li>The <keyword id="1229083" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Beauty-Industry">beauty industry</keyword> in India, projected to be worth $20 billion by 2025, was one of the sectors whose path was redefined during the coronavirus pandemic.</li><li>With people staying away from <keyword id="41857" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="salons">salons</keyword>, quick home solutions became important.</li><li>The future of the beauty industry has got a digital push with the pandemic but it might not be enough for a behavioural change.</li></ul>Gone are the days of weekend pampering sessions at the spa or salons. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the face of the beauty industry. From the parlour waali aunties and posh salons, the situation has changed with at-home services ruling the roost now. The beauty industry in India, projected to be worth <a href="https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/indias-cosmetics-market-to-grow-by-25-to-20-billion-by-2025/62845033">$20 billion</a> by 2025, was one of the sectors whose path was redefined during the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown led to salons shutting down, and even as they began reopening in phases, the situation remains cautious. Work from home and lack of social gatherings meant lesser business for the salons. Also, people remain wary regarding the safety of getting any beauty procedures done outside. Here’s what worked in the beauty industry So, the beauty industry has settled for the simpler things – people took to self-grooming as they spent time at home. In a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuv6pwL9tbA&amp;t=106s&amp;ab_channel=GoldmanSachs">YouTube chat,</a> Janki Gandhi, Managing Director, Consumer retail investment banking division, Cross Markets Group, <keyword id="6361649" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword> said that the categories that did well globally were skin, hair and personal care. “Even within those, it's really subcategories that are more health and wellness oriented, self-care where people finally have time at home have gravitated towards those categories,” she said during the chat. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Skincare </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hair </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Personal Care </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Green, clean natural products </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hair colouring and hair care </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">DIY products, bath and body wash products </td></tr></tbody></table> Even products that one can use while wearing a mask – eyeliner, concealers, mascara saw a steady demand through the global lockdown phases, she said while adding that heavy make-up products saw a slowdown as people weren’t going anywhere. “Certain categories have been reinvigorated during this time like nail, grooming and devices,” she said. Beauty e-commerce during lockdown In the last one year the <keyword id="2902598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="beauty-and-wellness">beauty and wellness</keyword> category in e-commerce has been one of the fastest growing sectors. “Beauty &amp; wellness is one sector that has witnessed an unprecedented order volume growth of over 130% as compared to the last year. This is more than six times the overall e-commerce growth,” said a report by Unicommerce on India’s online retail market. That explains the fast rise of beauty retail <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> like Nykaa, which has solidified an online as well as offline presence. The beauty e-commerce platform has also announced major sales and forayed into the home and travel care essentials category during the past few months. “We have seen favorable trends in customer buying behavior including higher AOVs (average order volumes) as customers are willing to spend more on platforms such as Nykaa. While personal care is growing for us, we are seeing an overall return in demand across traditional categories such as make up and are currently tracking higher than pre-lockdown numbers,” a Nykaa spokesperson told Business Insider. At home, Do-It-Yourself With people staying away from salons, quick home solutions became important. As non-essential deliveries began, trimmers and grooming devices saw a surge in demand across e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Paytm Mall. The beauty and wellness category has seen a 57% jump in demand in June 2020 as compared to February 2020, according to the Unicommerce report. From women resorting to YouTube tutorials to cut their hair to taking care of their own beauty needs, DIY kits are the flavour of the season. “In our case things came back to business-as-usual on the skincare and haircare fronts. People were ordering a lot more of specialist solutions, face packs, scrubs and creams. Our skin care kits are seeing excellent demand. These have always been about DIY skin care at home, and therefore ideally suited in a "locked down" environment,” said Shankar Prasad, Founder of beauty and wellness startup Plum. And for those not indulging in DIY, home services came to the rescue. Even in men’s grooming, after months of growing out their hair, men's haircuts become the most in-demand service for a home services startup Urban Company. “Relatively speaking, men’s grooming people tried DIY, but cutting your hair is fairly problematic so its rebounding faster and that category has grown five times from where we were pre-COVID, but their consumption in beauty beyond that is limited,” said Mukund Kulashekaran, SVP of Business, Urban Company. For women, Kulashekaran says its a mixed response as the main trigger for demand has been the need to go back to office or festivals. “Otherwise people will make-do for sometime with alternative versions of waxing for instance. I would say one in two women are being safe even now. However, Delhi has come back for us to 70-80% of pre-COVID levels while Tier II and III cities, which haven’t yet really seen the impact of COVID-19, have bounced back 100%,” he said. The future – Will we go to the salon? As salons open up and pictures of beauticians wearing full gear – PPE kits, face shields, and masks, trend on social media — the question remains, whether people find it safe to venture out. Experts believe that while at-home solutions will continue to reign supreme for another year, it's too short a time to change behaviour. And people will turn to stylists soon. “Making yourself look good is not an easy task. There’s a reason why people have been opting to go to stylists over the years. As soon as aspects of socialization come back, people will go back to salons or ordering services at home. In the near future, consumption will remain low but I don’t see people replacing it,” said Kulashekaran. And when it comes to the sale of beauty products, companies will have to look at an omnichannel strategy as especially with beauty products people would want to try before buying – it’s very experiential. “COVID-19 has accelerated the jump to digital buying by a few years. This kind of push has made people somewhat agnostic to where they are buying their products from. It will be interesting to see how brick and mortar plays into this omnichannel strategy,” said Gandhi in the Goldman Sachs chat. M&amp;A activities will grow From a business perspective, mergers and acquisitions in the beauty industry too are set to grow. The Goldman Sachs exec said that globally companies are aggressively pursuing opportunities in the space, which will help them modernise their business and become category leaders, technology-driven, or tap into a new market. In India too, deal activity has been seen in the beauty and wellness category. Earlier,the beauty marketplace MyGlamm had acquired the Priyanka Gill-led startup PopXO. Most recently, Lotus Herbals acquired the whole business of the startup SoulTree. “We have been scanning the market for a premium certified organic Ayurvedic brand that resonates with modern consumers and SoulTree checked all the boxes,” said Nitin Passi, Joint Managing Director of Lotus Herbals. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/stack-overflow-is-using-its-85-million-to-boost-teams-and-it-wants-to-use-it-to-crack-the-india-market/articleshow/77972020.cms">EXCLUSIVE: Stack Overflow is using its $85 million to boost Teams — and it wants to use it to crack the India market</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/india-overtakes-brazil-to-become-the-second-worst-hit-covid-19-nation/articleshow/77971312.cms">India overtakes Brazil to become the second worst-hit COVID-19 nation</a>

COVID-19 and the changing face of the business of beauty — from sanitized salons to DIY kits and acquisitions

<ul><li>Online learning platform <keyword id="6559242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="great-learning">Great Learning</keyword> has announced a senior level learning programme ‘AI for Leaders’ in partnership with University of Texas, Austin. </li><li>In the last two years, there has been a 60% rise in the demand for AI learning experts, thanks to growing <keyword id="24019" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="automation">automation</keyword>. </li><li>The course will include the basics of <keyword id="107950" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence</keyword> and training on database systems including SQL, No-SQL, Visualizing Data - Tableau, <keyword id="294572" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="machine-learning">Machine Learning</keyword>, Autonomous Vehicles and Image classification.</li></ul>Online learning platform Great Learning is now offering a senior-level learning programme ‘AI for Leaders’ in partnership with University of Texas, Austin. The three-month programme will focus on training leadership roles such as directors and CXOs. In the last two years, the demand for AI learning experts grew by 60%. The learning in this area itself is expected to grow into an $16 billion opportunity by 2025. “AI is expected to add significant growth and value to the world’s economy and it will impact their customers, employees, investors, operations and product/service offerings. Our current business environment mandates that mid and senior leaders be aware of the possibilities that AI has to offer,” said Hari Krishnan Nair, Co-founder, Great Learning. The course aims to fill the much-needed tech skills gap at the senior level. According to a recent survey by Great Learning, senior leaders lack <keyword id="7651297" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-skills">AI skills</keyword> that companies need. The course will include the basics of artificial intelligence and training on database systems including SQL, No-SQL, Visualizing Data - Tableau, machine learning, autonomous vehicles and image classification. Another <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/tech-startups-to-hire-over-40000-people-next-year-zomato-oyo-swiggy-chalk-out-plans/story/304338.html">survey </a>done by Analytics Vidhya and ed-tech platform Great Learnings revealed that India currently has 50,000 vacancies in data and analytics, with another 39,000 analytics jobs expected to become available by 2020. Skills that are needed to keep up with automation include “AI, machine learning, blockchain, cloud computing, data visualization, data engineering, IOT, data science and analytics, and extended reality (virtual reality and augmented reality),” said Bhajneet Dhingra, independent talent advisor for IT majors and startups. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/ai-skills-needed-to-get-best-jobs-in-the-industry-according-to-the-data-science-skills-study-2019/articleshow/71473858.cms">The hottest AI jobs will need you to know these programming languages and tools</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/python-r-machine-learning-sql-top-skills-to-become-a-data-scientist/articleshow/70738261.cms">Three data scientists reveal what it takes to transition from physics to a data science career</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/looking-for-a-job-heres-why-data-analytics-should-be-on-the-top-of-your-list/articleshow/67649196.cms">Here’s why it might be the best time to opt for a career in data analytics</a>

You Searched For "grooming startup" and got 12 results

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