Lithuania’s Watalook secures $1 million in pre-seed funding

Vilnius-based Watalook has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round. The startup acts as a digital assistant to beauty industry professionals, with the ultimate goal of providing a healthy work/life balance. The funding is expected to fuel a US market entry.

Launched in April of 2020, Watalook has seen nothing but continued growth over the course of the global pandemic, and 2021 is showing a 317% increase in customer numbers year over year. The platform is targeted at independent professionals and offers a host of client-facing services including automated self-booking options and SMS appointment updates and reminders. On the backend, beauty professionals gain valuable insights about clients including revenue data, appointment frequencies, cancellations, and no-shows. By using the Watalook platform, beauty professionals report saving, on average, 22 hours a month in administrative duties.

“We see a steady >30% month over month growth in the number of beauticians using Watalook, and consequently growing appointments booked through the platform by +34%,” commented CEO and co-founder Klaudijus Ambrozas.

With 70% of all US beauty professionals reporting themselves as independent contractors, Watalook is now looking to cash in on this $66 billion market.

“Working with young beauticians’ generation we see that more than anything else, they seek financial health, recognition, close relationships, and a chance to become the voice that matters, thus big chunk of the $1M investment will be dedicated to personalized beauticians’ digital marketing campaigns that will not only help to expand each US beauty rockstar’s clientele and generate more revenue, but will also make their voice louder and relationships with their clients - stronger,” adds CXO and co-founder Justas Vitenas.

One can only hope they find a native English-speaking copywriter before they do.

The pre-seed funding round was co-led by Startup Wise Guys, Crosspring, and Launchpad Capital, and saw the participation of several undisclosed angel investors.

“We have seen remarkable growth of the company since we did our first investment almost a year ago. And these numbers prove to the public what we see firsthand - the team behind Watalook knows the market in and out, completely feels the vibe of Gen Z clients, and have the tools, knowledge, and guts to reach it. Excited to be part of this would be an understatement,“ commented Startup Wise Guys’ Partner Jone Vaituleviciute.