Vish Salon Tech and Porpoise, two emerging Atlantic Canadian startups, presented at the FounderFuel Spring 2017 Demo Day in Montreal this week, which coincided with the city’s massive Startup Festival.
Pitching before a roomful of investors and tech enthusiasts, the two companies told of the traction they had gained since entering the Montreal accelerator earlier in the year. You can find video of the presentations here, though the sound quality may pose a problem – Vish CEO Timothy Howard begins his presentation at 1:31 and is followed directly by Porpoise CEO Topher Kingsley-Williams at 1:40.
St. John’s-based Vish has produced a technology that helps the owners of beauty salons reduce waste when dying clients’ hair and increase revenue. The product acts as a CRM for salon owners, and also helps measure the colour in the dye to reduce waste, collects data and makes sure clients receive the precise colour every time. Its market is vast, given that there are 1.5 million salons bringing in $48 billion a year – just in just in North America, and about one fifth of their dye inventory is wasted.
A dozen salons have already signed up with Vish across North America, divided evenly between the U.S. and Canada. Howard cited three clients that have saved $100,000 in reduced waste by using Vish, while increasing revenue and improving client relationships. He added that Vish is also working with beauty brands like L’Oreal and Goldwell to give them insights on the demands and challenges of salons.
Monthly revenue grew from $3,000 in April to $6,000 in June, and are on track to hit $18,000 in August, he said.
“Vish is raising $750,000 a month as we reach our goal of being in 300 salons, generating $90,000 in recurring revenue each month,” said Howard.
Read our Most Recent Report on Porpoise.
A certified B-Corp, Porpoise is a social venture based in Moncton. Porpoise probes its clients’ employees to learn what they’re doing in their communities. It then helps to align the employees’ charitable aspirations with the company’s social strategy, and helps them amplify the benefits by promoting what the company and its staff are doing.
“We hope to leverage the power of volunteering,” Kingsley-Williams said. “Historically, brands have been defined by the products they produce. But today that’s not enough. Today the people who work for these companies define the brand as well. “
He said the company has secured such clients as Salesforce.com and National Bank of Canada, and that Porpoise is now experiencing month-on-month growth of 18 percent. Since joining Founder Fuel, the company has added about $650,000 in new business, which it expects to close in the next few weeks.
