The round was co-led by Index Ventures and Toba Capital with participation from Santa Monica-based Bonfire Ventures Management, VMG Partners, Ludlow Ventures and BoxGroup Ventures.
Boulevard’s platform provides a range of business management services including scheduling, client communications, point-of-sale and labor management services. It is designed primarily for the upper-end of the salon and spa market, according to Boulevard co-founder and Chief Executive Matt Danna.
“We are very focused on premier salons and spas that are well-established, have multiple employees, multiple locations — sometimes hundreds of locations,” Danna said.
Boulevard serves clients in approximately 45 states, according to Danna. He said the company works with many of the high-end salons on L.A.’s west side.
“You could probably throw a rock in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills an
Boulevard’s latest raise comes at an unprecedented time for salon and spa businesses. The entire industry experienced months of shutdowns under the Covid-19 pandemic. Although operations have resumed at many businesses, stringent restrictions continue to limit customer volumes, impacting bottom lines across the industry.
“Our businesses are hovering at around 70% of pre-Covid sales volumes,” Danna said, noting that most L.A.-area clients were closer to 60%.
Despite drops in revenue, Danna noted that his clients were faring significantly better than many expected. He said the high-end nature of the salons and spas that Boulevard services likely played a role in their resilience.
“The businesses we power are sought after,” Danna said. “Many of their clients will look at getting their hair cut or colored as essential as going to the grocery store.”
Boulevard, for its part, has actually benefited from Covid disruption, according to Danna, who said that many salons and spas running older technology systems took advantage of the shutdowns to update their systems.
