Lavendr, a B2B SaaS platform, has officially emerged from beta mode, after raising funds, introducing a comprehensive suite of tools designed to streamline daily operations and enhance customer retention for nail salons.
Co-founded by Kevin Wang and Danelson Rosa, Lavendr has secured backing from prominent New York City-based investors. This platform is the brainchild of Wang, who grew up in a family of nail salon owners and sought to create a solution specifically tailored to meet the needs of immigrant and minority-owned salons. With many nail salons operating with fewer than five staff members, Lavendr is addressing critical industry pain points from the ground up.
Bridging Operational Gaps for Salon Owners
For over 15 years, CEO Kevin Wang and his family have owned and operated nail salons in New York City, navigating the complexities of managing customer relationships, sales data, and technician performance with traditional tools. Frustrated by existing solutions that failed to meet their growing needs, Wang and Rosa co-founded Lavendr to develop a platform built by owners, for owners.
To elevate Lavendr’s vision, Annie Phan, the company’s Chief Data Officer, joined the team.With her extensive expertise in digital transformation, Phan—a former business analyst at McKinsey & Company—leads Lavendr’s data-driven initiatives, ensuring the platform is providing cutting-edge, scalable solutions tailored to the needs of nail salon owners.
“Owners juggle an immense amount of administrative work, from scheduling appointments to managing finances, all while facing tight, competition-driven profit margins,” says Phan. “Lavendr is designed to simplify the back-office processes, allowing them to focus on growing their business.”
Lavendr’s platform offers a suite of tools for managing customer bookings, loyalty programs, and technician assignments. With integrated payment terminals and real-time sales and performance analytics, the platform enables salon owners to monitor their financial health with ease. Additionally, Lavendr allows customers to book appointments via Google Search, Google Maps, and social media platforms, helping salons capture new clientele while automating many administrative tasks.
Data-Driven Innovation
Phan’s leadership drives Lavendr’s go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, and data-backed product feature development.
“When you’re driving a digital transformation across an entire industry, you need to lead with data,” Phan explains. “Our platform equips salon owners with the tools to truly understand their business, from tracking peak customer traffic to optimizing technician performance. We’re driving profitability in ways these owners previously couldn’t access.”
Phan’s digital-first strategy enables Lavendr to offer personalized, automated solutions for salon owners—particularly those without access to expensive enterprise software. From customer segmentation to tailored marketing campaigns and advanced financial reporting, the platform enables salon owners to operate more efficiently and profitably.
A Tailored Solution for a Market in Need
Lavendr sets itself apart from competitors by focusing specifically on nail salons, an underserved market that larger beauty management platforms often overlook. The platform addresses unique challenges that broader, industry-agnostic tools fail to consider, such as language barriers in immigrant-owned businesses. Lavendr’s internationalization features for non-English-speaking salon owners and staff provide a much-needed solution in its diverse industry.
“While other platforms like Square and Clover focus heavily on payment processing, we’re focusing on the specific operational needs of nail salons,” Wang adds. “That means the people behind the business, too.”
The platform is rapidly gaining traction, with more than 200 salons already onboarded. Lavendr’s growth strategy includes expanding into high-density markets like California and New York, while continuing to refine its features to meet the needs of a diverse customer base. The company is also forming strategic partnerships with industry leaders, including architecture firms, insurance providers, and credit card processing companies, to further expand its reach.
Polishing the Nail Salon Industry
Lavendr’s launch signals a new era for the $60 billion nail salon industry, bringing the innovation and digital transformation usually seen in the tech sector to an underserved but booming market. With its comprehensive, user-friendly platform, Lavendr is set to revolutionize how salons operate—simplifying everything from customer acquisition to financial reporting and empowering owners to grow.