Mira Beauty has closed a $9 million round of funding, making it the first AI-driven beauty and personal care retailer in the U.S. The round was co-led by Unilever Ventures and 14W, the venture capital firm behind Glossier and Goop, and underscores the relevance of machine learning and crowdsourced intelligence in retail.
The beauty e-tailer is the largest aggregator of personalization data, with more than 10 million reviews, photos, videos, articles and posts, that are then translated to help consumers find what’s right for them. Powered by a proprietary technology that curates top-rated skin care and makeup products from the web, the site has developed categories and assortments to appeal to modern ways of shopping, include the industry’s largest collection of female-found and Black-founded brands, as well as the largest assortments of vegan, recyclable and K-Beauty products.

“We’ve been called the Google of beauty, but really, our model is a mix of Google, Amazon and Netflix. In short, we are a universalized, personalized and verticalized one-stop shop for beauty products,” said Benjamin Lord, Chief Marketing Officer, Mira Beauty.

The San Francisco-based company launched in October 2019 and was founded by Stanford data scientists Jay Hack and Brandon Garcia. It reaches millions of beauty shoppers weekly, and stocks more than 100,000 products from more than 3,000 brands.

The latest round of seed funding will enable the company to continue its verticalized approach to beauty shopping in collaboration with its customers.
“Our belief is that beauty should be a celebration of personal choice. We designed Mira Beauty to improve the accuracy and relevance of beauty product searches and recommendations per individual. Beauty consumers increasingly want to interact with brands and purchase products online in a way that feels authentic, frictionless and collaborative, and today’s specialty retailers, direct-to-consumer stores and marketplaces are ill-equipped to retrofit their businesses to this new reality. We are thrilled to partner with 14W, Unilever and other like-minded investors who have track records of backing market-leading innovations,” said Jay, co-founder and CEO of Mira Beauty.

As part of the company’s effort to boost its digital roadmap and streamline e-commerce operations, the beta app will be entirely phased out and merged into a redesigned website.

“We know our guests love the app, and we are bringing what has made the app a success to the website, as well as a brand experience that celebrates self-confidence and diversity,” said Brandon, co-founder and COO of MIRA BEAUTY. “With something as inspiring as beauty, we’re making it easier than ever to shop for skincare and cosmetic products that work for you — shopping for beauty should be an empowering moment.”

The company plans to introduce new product categories and assortments by the end of the year to diversify the growing offering.