Madison Reed gets financing for media and retail expansion

By Deanna Utroske

- Last updated on GMT

image courtesy of Madison Reed
image courtesy of Madison Reed
The hair color startup, led by CEO Amy Errett, announced this month that it’s accepted another $25m in venture capital funding, moneys that will let the company’s brick-and-mortar footprint expand exponentially over the next two years.

When Cosmetics Design spoke with Madison Reed CEO Amy Errett in July​, the company was keeping a watchful eye on what was then a recently launched partnership with Ulta as well as finalizing plans to earnestly expand its business into the salon channel.

Now that expansion is on course and well-funded. This month Madison Reed closed a $25m Series financing round. Comcast Ventures led the funding and will “likely contributed $10 - $15 million as ‘lead’ investor,” ​according to Donovan Jones, who wrote about the deal for the financial market content site seekingalpha.com​.

Other firms investing in this round include Norwest Venture Partners, True Ventures, and Calibrate Ventures.

Disruptive technology

Comcast Ventures, which is an affiliate of Comcast Corporation, tends to invest in entertainment, communications, and digital tech. Yet as Jones points out, “the firm has invested in startups that operate in the direct-to-consumer, at-home space” ​before; and beyond that, with this deal “Comcast seeds a potential future ad buyer and stands to learn how these new consumer companies are successfully marketing to younger demographics such as Millennials and Gen Y consumers.”

Comcast Ventures and Madison Reed already have a working relationship: “We have been a minority investor in Madison Reed and have worked closely with the company on TV and media expansion,” ​Sam Landman, managing director of Comcast Ventures, says in a media release about this latest funding round.

“We have watched the growth and execution, and we wanted to be a larger investment partner to the company as they scale and add Color Bars to their already fast-growing business. We are delighted to lead this round and look forward to the continued growth and success.”

Channel agnostic

Growth in the short-term for the hair color company means more salons or Madison Reed Color Bars as they are known. With the $25m in funding Madison Reed will open 25 more color bar locations between now and the end of 2019, according to the media release. “We are extremely excited to work with Comcast and all of our investors to execute this rapid plan,” ​say Errett.

“The reaction to our Color Bar concept has been astounding,” ​she tells the press, going on to explain that “we have focused on catering to women who are comfortable doing their hair color at home, and we will continue to do so. Now with the Color Bars, we also have a solution for women who want the help of a professional Madison Reed colorist, while saving time and money.”

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