With the COVID-19 crisis keeping us bound to the confines of our homes for months, and the world slowly reopening little by little, news of Squire Technologies’ Series B could not have come at a better time.
Squire is a Black-owned scheduling, point-of-sale, and management app created for barbers and male groomers. With Squire, barbers can manage waitlists, set up loyalty programs, have their customers book and pay for services, and much more. Plus, all transactions are contactless and cashless, which is a major advantage in a post-pandemic society.
In an announcement made on June 9, 2020, Squire has raised $34 million in Series B funding led by CRV, with participation from Tiger Global, San Francisco 49ers organization, and the former CEO and Chairman of Infor, Charles Phillips. In June 2019, Squire raised $8 million in a round of Series A funding led by Trinity Ventures, bringing their total funding at the time to $12.2 million. The tech startup can now proudly say they have raised a total of $46.2 million.
“Small businesses are hurting right now. Fortunately, barbershops are well-positioned to thrive in an economic downturn since people will always need haircuts,” says Songe LaRon, co-founder and CEO of Squire. “We’re focused on providing the payment infrastructure and financial services that will help barbershops reopen successfully and excel post-COVID. This investment will help us scale and execute on our goal of becoming the industry standard for barbershops.”
“Our goal has always been to put our customers first and be a resource in times of need,” says Dave Salvant, co-founder and President.
With the huge impact COVID-19 has had on how businesses will operate moving forward, investors still have high hopes for Squire and the tech company’s ability to pivot long before they were forced to.
“Barbershops have been forced to modernize overnight, where scheduling and digital payments have become imperative to their operations and livelihood. And thankfully for shop owners, they have Squire to enable their expedited digital transition,” says Reid Christian, General Partner at CRV. “From an investment perspective, backing Dave and Songe with their unique perspective on the industry, coupled with the underlying structural shift in how consumers expect to interact with businesses, made this a unique opportunity to revolutionize an entire market.”
David and Songe plan on using this round of funding to give back to other barbers by educating and equipping them with the necessary tools to operate in a post-pandemic society. They’ve created www.helpbarbershops.com to help provide shop owners with information about federal relief programs and also plan to provide training and other digital aids to help the community get back on their feet.
