London’s ‘Uber for beauty’ lands £1m investment to drive on-demand services

blow LTD, a provider of on-demand beauty services, is set to unlock growth after securing £1m in investment.

The firm received a £500k boost from Unilever Ventures, the private equity and venture capital arm of multinational consumer goods business Unilever, along with further investment from an angel and crowdfunding campaign launched via online platform Seedrs.

A total of 200 people backed blow LTD on Seedrs, including fashion retailer ASOS’ founder and former CEO Nick Robertson.

blow LTD, which describes itself as the ‘Uber for beauty’, was founded in November 2013 by venture capitalist and entrepreneur Dharmash Mistry alongside Fiona McIntosh, the former editor-in-chief of fashion publications Grazia and Elle.

In addition to providing blow-dries, makeup and nail services at customers’ homes, offices, hotels and events, blow LTD operates two flagship beauty bars in Canary Wharf and Covent Garden.

Unilever Ventures’ investment director, Stephen Willson, said: “blow LTD is a leading player in beauty services on demand in Europe, with a unique multi-channel model, comprehensive operational processes focused on quality of service delivery and innovative two-way marketplace technology.

“Dharmash and Fiona are reinventing the service experience and ultimately creating a new route for product distribution. We are excited to partner with them and provide access to Unilever’s assets, ecosystem and expertise.”

In a joint statement, Dharmash and Fiona said they are pleased to bring the Unilever Ventures team on board to help blow LTD move forward.

They continued: “In parallel, the success of our equity crowdfunding experiment means we embark on the next stage of the blow LTD journey with nearly 200 new brand ambassadors.

“Thank you to Jeff and the Seedrs team, who have been great to explore and test new ideas with.”

Seedrs’ co-founder and CEO, Jeff Lynn, hailed blow LTD’s campaign as a “wonderful example” of the website’s goal to combine venture capital investment, angels and crowdfunding to “disrupt a larger fragmented market”.

He added: “I am thrilled to see Unilever Ventures joining this round, together with nearly 200 ‘crowd’ investors – a great base of supporters and advocates going forward.”

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