The U.S.-based nail polish manufacturer is leading a Series A investment round in Blank Beauty Inc., a beauty tech startup focused on the automated production of customized color cosmetics.
Kirker Enterprises announced on Wednesday, May 7, their strategic investment in Blank Beauty, alongside venture capital firm Evolution VC Partners, and Epson Robots, a global leader in PC-controlled precision factory automation. This capital injection is expected to support growth initiatives of the beauty tech company.
Founded in 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Blank Beauty develops in-store and online technologies for the automatic production of nail polish. Harnessing artificial intelligence and automated robotics, Blank Beauty say they can create 40,000 shades of nail polish in devices that have a footprint of less than 4 square feet (less than 0.38 sqm). Their first batch of devices (dubbed Huey) can be found piloting at select Walmart locations in Tennessee and Arkansas. Using AI tools, they can blend nail shades matching with clothes, handbags, shoes, a hair dye or virtually anything else!
Nail polish lovers can also connect to Blank’s online platform to create custom shades of nail polish in minutes that will be delivered to their doorstep.
Kirker Enterprise supplies Blank Beauty with the nail polish bases and pigments used to manufacture their products.
“Our investment in Blank Beauty is the logical next step in our partnership and allows us to support Blank Beauty in their growth goals while leveraging their technology to support Kirker’s customers around the world,” says Trish Malvar, President, Kirker Enterprises, Inc.
The concept of creating custom nail polish shades isn’t entirely new. About fifteen years ago, the Brazilian company Esmalte Machine introduced a solution in select retail locations that could generate personalized polish colors from a database of 100,000 shades.
At CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Nimble unveiled its at-home nail salon device, blending AI and robotics. Resembling a large white printer and weighing eight kilograms, the machine can paint and dry all ten fingernails in just 25 minutes, at home and without the need for an appointment. While it does not offer custom shade creation, it provides a time-saving alternative to traditional salon visits.
With additional innovations unveiled in March at Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna by IL Cosmetics and Fiabila, it’s clear the nail sector is experiencing strong momentum where product development is concerned. Whether this will translate into the long-anticipated surge in sales, however, remains to be seen.
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