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Venture Capital News: Madison Reed Secures $16.1M

2015-09-29
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Madison Reed, the company delivering a healthier, personalized, salon-quality hair color experience straight to your doorstep, today announced a $16.1 million Series C round of funding.
Comcast Ventures and Shea Ventures join existing investors Norwest Venture Partners and True Ventures in the round.

Leveraging Comcast Ventures' strong media relationships with Comcast/NBCUniversal, the investment will further support Madison Reed's plans to expand its television advertising and marketing efforts nationwide.

'The team took notice of Madison Reed because it's a company changing the game in an industry that is still short on innovation,' said Sam Landman, Managing Director at Comcast Ventures. 'I saw how exceptionally ambitious the company is, and I'm looking forward to continuing the relationship to innovate their product and the way they connect with their audience through TV and our media channels.'

An estimated 75 percent of women in the U.S. use hair-coloring products. By replacing the harsh ingredients in hair color, and creating a gentler, more natural alternative without sacrificing performance, Madison Reed is shaking up the $50 billion hair care industry and bridging the gap between salon-quality performance and at-home, affordable convenience. The additional funding will help Madison Reed build upon its current product and accelerate marketing and technology innovation. The funding will also enable the company to continue to offer personalized service and set a higher standard for the integrity, design and delivery of hair color and care products.

'Globally, hair care products are the largest portion of the beauty industry. We have a huge opportunity to completely reinvent the way women are coloring and caring for their hair by using technology, real-time access to licensed colorists, and better-for-you ingredients to deliver a superior result directly to consumers,' said Amy Errett, CEO and Co-Founder, Madison Reed. 'With ongoing support from Comcast Ventures, Shea and our current team of investors, we can continue transforming the industry and delighting our customers to make them feel beautiful every day, inside and out.'

'From the inception of the company, True saw an opportunity for Madison Reed to disrupt this large market by creating a better product and superior channel, and to use technology to delight and please customers,' said Jon Callaghan, True Ventures Founder and Managing Partner, and Madison Reed board member.'We are thrilled with the rapid growth and innovation at Madison Reed, and we are excited about the next phase of growth. This is an enormous opportunity with a phenomenal team.'

With new funding to support the charge, Madison Reed is in the right place at the right time to disrupt an industry that is ripe for improvement. Consumers are demanding a more personalized beauty experience that technology and e-commerce have enabled, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can no longer rely on the traditional offerings and tactics that have served them in the past. Madison Reed is reinventing the relationship between CPG companies and their customers through innovation at every point of contact with technology that can fill a diagnostic and predictive role in recommending the right products for each individual. Through its live customer support and interaction with licensed hair color experts, physical product innovation that dramatically improves both performance and health benefits to meet modern needs, and its next-level customer insight and data, Madison Reed creates the best at-home hair coloring and hair care experience for customers.

'Madison Reed is at the forefront of a new wave of consumer goods companies that sell healthier products directly to customers,' said Jeff Crowe, Managing Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. 'Amy and her team are taking this trend one step further by personalizing hair care products for each consumer, establishing direct lines of communication with every customer, and using mobile technology to brilliantly re-imagine the consumption experience of hair products. Madison Reed is revolutionizing the world of hair care.'

Over the past year, Madison Reed has also expanded beyond just permanent hair color to offer a full range of hair care products formulated without harsh chemicals to help customers maintain their color-treated hair, including Root Touch Up, Semi-Permanent Gloss and additional care and styling products. Madison Reed is available everywhere you are - online, on mobile, and straight to your doorstep, office, or hotel - and recently launched its Root Touch Up powder in Sephora stores nationwide.

Madison Reed is headquartered in San Francisco and previously raised $15.9 million from True Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners. Amy Errett is also a Special Advisor at True Ventures, where she supports more than 250 entrepreneurs as they build their own innovative companies.

About Madison Reed

Launched in 2013, Madison Reed is disrupting the $50 billion hair color and care industry by offering a personal, convenient, and affordable process with licensed professional colorists and salon quality hair care products that are better for you-free of ammonia, PPD, resorcinol, and other harsh chemicals. With a mission to empower women to look and feel their best, the company is reinventing both the hair coloring experience and hair color itself with professional-grade formulas, personalized hair assessments, and home delivery via the company's eCommerce site and mobile application. Additionally, Madison Reed not only creates the best at-home hair coloring and hair care experience for customers, but also introduces next-level customer insight and data to the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry for the first time. For more information, visit www.Madison-Reed.com.

About Comcast Ventures

Comcast Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation, invests in innovative businesses that represent the next generation of entertainment, communications and digital technology by partnering with entrepreneurs who have the vision, passion and tenacity to succeed. Most investments are in the advertising, consumer, enterprise and infrastructure sectors. Comcast Ventures provides its portfolio companies with countless resources, relationships and know-how to help them perform at the highest possible levels. For more information, visit www.comcastventures.com.

About Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners is a global venture capital and growth equity investment firm that manages approximately $5 billion in capital. The firm targets early to late stage venture and growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors including: technology, information services, business services, financial services, consumer products/services and healthcare. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Norwest has subsidiaries in San Francisco, New York, Mumbai and Bengaluru, India and Herzelia, Israel. The firm has funded more than 550 companies since inception. For more information visit: www.nvp.com

About True Ventures

Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. With capital under management in excess of $1 billion, True provides seed and Series A funding to the most talented entrepreneurs in today's fastest growing markets. With a mission to make the world a better place for entrepreneurs, True encourages each founder's vision and has built resources to empower the employees, families and communities of its portfolio companies. The firm maintains a strong founder community and offers innovative educational opportunities to its portfolio, helping entrepreneurs achieve higher levels of success and impact. With more than 200 companies funded and multiple companies acquired, the current True portfolio has helped create over 5,000 jobs. To learn more about True Ventures, visit www.trueventures.com.
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