How a cold email to a VC helped salon software startup Mangomint raise $35M
Back in 2017, Daniel Lang, Dan Poineau and Sandra Huber came together to build Mangomint, a startup that makes salon and spa operations software.
Lang said they realized that software providers were trying to build their own booking platforms, à la OpenTable. “We fundamentally didn’t believe this was the right approach for beauty and wellness,” Lang told TechCrunch. The founders envisioned all-in-one software that booked appointments and then automated ongoing text communications that could do everything from appointment reminders to sending care instructions prior to a skincare procedure.
The company works mainly with small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that employ at least five technicians such as estheticians or nail technicians. The software helps automate tasks, from client booking to sending promotional emails. While these are small individual businesses, Mangomint’s targeted market is a large one, estimated to grow to $185 billion by 2030, according to Astute Analytica.
Lang says the company has seen its annual recurring revenue and customer growth hit more than 100% for several years now, “with no sign of slowdown,” though the company wouldn’t provide specifics. Lang did say that Mangomint has processed more than $1 billion in transactions, with notable clients including Ouidad, OSEA, Shop Good and Surya Spa.
On Friday, the company is announcing a $35 million Series B raise led by Altos Ventures, with participation from Jason Lemkin’s SaaStr Fund. The company only had two investors in its Series A, including OpenView Venture Partners, which returned for this round, and a small angel investor check.
Lang says he first met Altos at the SaaStr annual conference in 2021 and has been a part of the SaaStr community for many years. He initially connected with Lemkin through a cold email several years ago. “Jason has been talking for many years about how founders can get in touch with virtually any VC by sending a cold email as long as the cold email itself is really, really good,” Lang said. “I did exactly that and he responded within just a few hours.”
From there they hopped on a call, and 20 minutes into the conversation Lemkin said he wanted to invest as much as he could into Mangomint.
“We see tremendous potential in the next wave of vertical software companies to unlock significant value for SMBs in years to come,” Tae Yoon, a partner at Altos Ventures, told TechCrunch about the firm’s investment into Mangomint. “We are thrilled to partner with Mangomint [which] is bringing innovative and beautiful solutions to the salon and spa community.”
Competitors include GlossGenius, Varago, MindBody and Boulevard.
The company hopes to use the fresh capital to hire more talent, such as engineers and support managers, and build more automation-driven features. With this round, it also announced the launch of a feature that helps automatically send, for example, tailored SMS messages, internal notifications and client reminders, to help engage and retain customers.
“We believe we can innovate with entirely new marketing and communication tools for salons that help them generate more profits,” Lang said.