Be U Salon aims to open over 100 outlets in FY17-18

Be U Salons, an Asset-Light Tech Enabled Salon Chain, a part of the Delhi-based Gingerpan Swapkart, has announced that it has raised Rs 4 crore (US$600k) from a consortium of investors from UAE, Singapore and India.

The fund raise was led by Gaurav Kachru from 5 ideas Startup Superfuel and has received participations from Sundeep Singh Sahni, Founder Lazada Group and former VP Ola New Initiatives Jatin Aneja, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas Bikramjiet Kukreja (owner of one of the first Be U Salon outlets) and Arun Malhotra, a serial entrepreneur, among others.

Be U Salons now aims to open over 100 outlets in FY17-18 across multiple cities in India. The raised funds will be used to further consolidate Be U's position as one of the fastest growing tech enabled salon chain in North India. It would also be used to strengthen the back-end operations and tech infrastructure, build core talent and marketing of the current and new stores.

Vikas Johari, CEO and Founder, Be U Salons and a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exits, said, "Around 90% of the Indian salon industry comprises of standalone outlets, where most of them suffer from lack of a back-end infrastructure, standardization, technological automation, intelligent pricing, branding and marketing, amongst many others. We are here to provide a support ecosystem to bring them out of the crisis."

Jigyasa Gupta, Co-Founder and COO, Be U Salons, said, "Today, customers expect a certain quality and pricing, at multiple levels, but finds it difficult to find a match due to the extremely unorganized and unexpected nature of this industry; Be U aims to mediate this gap. We wish to create a brand which fills the unexpectedness between the consumers and the salon owners, via trust, training, intelligent pricing and technology."

Shailendra Nagvani, Co-founder and CTO, said, "Currently this industry works in a data vacuum, we at Be U, aim to change this and bring the data into the open, accessible to all the stakeholders involved. We are building the missing link between the salon owners, customers and salon employees, through technology; which holds the deep solutions to all of their concerns and challenges. We are excited to solve the problems of one of the oldest and largest profession on this planet - through technology."