Mobile beauty commerce platform, SalonHQ, has announced the closing of their $2 million first seed round. Furthermore, it is announced that notable industry leaders, Jeff Cohen, CEO of The Stars Companies, and Pat Parenty, former President of L'Oreal US Professional Products Division, have acquired a substantial equity stake in SalonHQ. As strategic partners, Cohen and Parenty will be actively engaging other industry executives and leaders to help expand and scale the company. Panache Ventures, Canada's most active seed stage venture capital find, has also joined the company's group of investors. Given their success and experience with technology start-ups, paired with Cohen and Parenty's experience, SalonHQ is set to expand quickly in the market.

The SalonHQ platform is uniquely targeted for beauty products distributors. The mobile app/front-end seamlessly connects sales teams and salon customers directly to distributors' ERP systems for order processing. This enables distributors, brands and salons to improve productivity and increase product revenue dramatically. Additional tools will continue to be introduced for salon owners and stylists to assist in managing their businesses more effectively. The platform is currently processing orders for more than 10,000 salons.

"We have been working with Jeff Cohen and The Stars Companies, as a customer, for the past eighteen months, and are excited they are standardizing their distribution business on the SalonHQ platform.

We are thrilled that both Jeff and Pat have joined us in a meaningful way, as we move into our next stage of growth," said Anthony Civitano, Co-Founder, SalonHQ. Cohen added, "I have been watching, mentoring, and nurturing this promising start-up for close to two years. In seeing and experiencing the value this platform has created in my own businesses, and the promise I see for our entire industry, I wanted to be an active and strategic part of it moving forward."

"We see a significant amount of white space and opportunity, particularly within the current distribution landscape, for a leading-edge, cost-effective technology solution like SalonHQ. I'm delighted to join the team and contribute whatever I can to help accelerate the company's presence and expansion in the market," commented Pat Parenty.

About SalonHQ: SalonHQ has offices in San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Miami. SalonHQ is a StepLadder Holdings company, founded by Mark Porter and David Grohol to incubate, service and invest in (primarily) technology-focused start-ups.