Madison Color Raises $4 Million Series A Funding to Reinvent Home Hair Color Market

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Madison Color, a San Francisco-based company that is reinventing the home hair care market, focusing first on home hair color, through superior products and consumer-facing technology, today announced that it has closed a $4 million Series A funding round led by True Ventures, a premier early stage investment firm. Maveron LLC, a leading consumer-only venture capital firm, and angel investors also participated in the round. The company also announced the addition of True Ventures partner Jon Callaghan to its board of directors. Madison Color will debut in the fall of this year.

"Millions of women – and more than a few men – color their hair every day with an in-home experience that is complicated, unpleasant and unhealthy. We will introduce a new, innovative, convenient and healthy way to select, buy and apply products, completely transforming this experience from one of pain to delight," said Madison Color co-founder and CEO Amy Errett. "True Ventures and Maveron are the perfect financial partners, with incredible track records in helping early stage consumer and technology companies grow their brands and achieve rapid growth. Together, they are in perfect synchrony with our vision of bringing technology to a market with high existing consumer demand that hasn't changed in decades."

"Amy Errett has the vision and experience to disrupt an enormous consumer industry that has never seen technological innovation. We believe Amy and her team have the power to create a consumer business that captures the imagination of customers who are ready for a healthier and more delightful hair coloring experience," said Jon Callaghan, co-founder of True Ventures. "Amy's energy and reputation as a leader are singular, and her history of excelling in consumer business is tremendous. True is thrilled to lead the Series A financing for Madison Color, and we are excited to welcome the entire Madison team to the True platform."

Dan Levitan, co-founder of Maveron said, "As the General Partner who opened our San Francisco office in 2010 and led our Bay Area efforts, and as an operator prior to that, we know Amy well and could not be more excited to be backing her and the Madison Color team on its journey to re-invent the home hair color experience."

Hair care represents a sizable market opportunity. The hair care business is a $48 billion annual market and hair color alone represents a market of $15 billion, with over 45 million U.S. women coloring their hair at home. Madison Color intends to reinvent every aspect of the business, starting with producing and delivering professional-grade products free of ammonia and other harmful chemicals, that are healthier for the consumer and their hair and delivered directly to their homes. Madison Color will also incorporate cross-platform technology innovations, including web, mobile, tablet, social and content, that will revolutionize the home hair care experience and delight consumers.

Madison Color brings together a strong management team including Errett and three co-founders: Eric Hutchinson, Andrew Trader and Sabrina Riddle.

Errett brings deep experience and knowledge in consumer marketplaces, both on and offline, through a multifaceted career that spans significant business and operating expertise as a leading entrepreneur, senior executive, venture capitalist and social-mission visionary. Most recently, she was a Maveron General Partner and led the firm's Bay Area office. Prior to Maveron, Amy was the chief executive officer and an owner of Olivia, repositioning the travel business as a complete lifestyle company. During her time at Olivia, she was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California. Previously, she founded and served as chief executive officer of The Spectrem Group, a worldwide strategic consulting, information, and M&A advisory firm that was acquired by NFO Worldwide NFO, and was a member of the senior management team at E*Trade where she diversified the company's business beyond brokerage and ran a $200 million unit that encompassed the management of E*Trade's growth areas.

Hutchinson is a proven operator with rich experience in both product and quantitative marketing. Previously, he was co-founder of Home Value Protection (acquired by AmTrust), which developed an innovative insurance product that protected the value of people's homes against declines in the real estate market.

Trader is a serial Internet and software entrepreneur with an extensive background in business operations, revenue management and marketing/user acquisition. Previously, he was part of the founding team at Zynga ZNGA, co-founder of Coremetrics (acquired by IBM) and chief executive officer of Tribe.net (platform acquired by Cisco).

Riddle brings multiple years experience in the successful creation and growth of consumer brands, both on and offline, fusing bold creative thinking with deep experience in strategy, analytics, social media and emotive consumer-centric experiences. Previously, she was chief executive officer of Swaylo (acquired by PeopleBrowsr), chief revenue officer of Threadsy (acquired by Facebook) and chief marketing, media and sales officer of Olivia.

About Madison Color

Madison Color (www.madisoncolor.com) is revolutionizing every aspect of the home hair care market through superior formulation of professional grade products that are healthier for you and your hair, reinventing the discovery and application experience, and delivering the products directly to your home. Headquartered in San Francisco, Madison Color is a privately held company backed by top-tier venture capital firms True Ventures and Maveron.

About True Ventures

Founded in 2006, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. With three funds and approximately $600 million in capital under management, 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 100 companies funded and multiple companies acquired, the True portfolio has created over 1,900 jobs. To learn more about True Ventures, visit www.trueventures.com.

About Maveron

Maveron is a venture capital firm that invests exclusively in consumer companies. Founded in 1998 by Dan Levitan and Howard Schultz, the firm has offices in Seattle and San Francisco. Representative Maveron investments include Altius Education, eBay, Capella Education, General Assembly, Julep, Shutterfly, Trupanion and zulily. For more information about Maveron, visit www.maveron.com.