Barbershop technology startup theCut raises $4.5 million, round led by Nextgen Venture Partners

• BySheetal Sidhu     |    September 6, 2021

theCut a technology platform designed to handle back-end operations for barbers, raised $4.5 million in new funding. Nextgen Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Elevate Ventures, Singh Capital and Leadout Capital. Omile and Kush Patel created the mobile app that provides information and reviews on barbers for potential customers while also managing appointments, mobile payments and pricing on the back end for barbers.
“Kush and I both had terrible experiences with haircuts, and decided to build an app to help find good barbers,” Omile said. “We found there were great barbers, but no way to discover them. You can do a Google search, but it doesn’t list the individual barber. With theCut, you can discover an individual barber and discover if they are a great fit for you and won’t screw up your hair.”

The app also enables barbers, perhaps for the first time, to have a list of clients and keep notes and photos of hair styles, as well as track visits and spending. By providing payments, barbers can also leverage digital trends to provide additional services and extras to bring in more revenue. On the customer side, there is a search function with barber profile, photos of their work, ratings and reviews, a list of service offerings and pricing. Omile said there are 400,000 to 600,000 barbers in the U.S., and it is one of the fastest-growth markets. As a result, the new funding will be used to hire additional talent, marketing and to grow the business across the country. “We’ve gotten to a place where we are hitting our stride and seeing business catapulting, so we are in hiring mode,” he added.

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