64. LeSalon Beauty

Founders: Natasha Pilbrow & Jean-Michel Chalayer
Founded: June 2014 (Launched March 2015)
Website: www.lesalon.com

If you’ve ever wished that there was more time in the day to spend time pampering and looking after yourself then you’re not alone.

For former lawyer Natasha Pilbrow and international entrepreneur Jean-Michel Chalayer – who both love getting beauty treatments – the pair found they never had time for a spot of self-indulgence at the salon. Even finding a therapist for a home treatment proved difficult.

And so, they started LeSalon.

A luxury on-demand beauty provider delivering affordable beauty services across London, LeSalon’s services include manicures, pedicures, waxing for men and women, and eyelash extensions.

Every therapist on its platform is vetted, tested, trained, and matched with a customer using an algorithm to ensure a consistently high-quality service.

And, unlike platforms such as blow Ltd, LeSalon’s booking service is fully automated. You enter your ideal location, date, time, ratings and your preferences and LeSalon will match you with a therapist; Chalayer tell us it’s the only on-demand beauty company in Europe offering this service.

As well as convenience for its customers, the start-up is focused on helping its therapists make a comfortable living. Pilbrow and Chalayer explain that it’s not uncommon for many therapists to have previously been forced to work for minimum wage in exploitative salons, whereas LeSalon allows them to “take control of their life, work when and where they want, and earn more money”.

And the platform has been as much a hit with therapists as it has time-sparse Londoners. More than 10,000 busy professionals are currently using the service for home treatments.

With popularity growing in the capital, LeSalon is looking to raise a seed round to fuel UK-wide expansion before it sets its sights on growing internationally.

The investment will also help develop some “pretty cutting edge tech” for the therapist allocation using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

For Chalayer, a beauty treatment isn’t just about making you look good, it’s empowerment: “When you get a beauty service you feel more confident about yourself which allows you to achieve your dreams”. That’s why LeSalon is on a mission to “change the world one manicure at a time”