It’s tough finding a good hairstylist—one Black founder is aiming to answer that call and Naomi Osaka is backing her mission.
Harvard grad Piersten Gaines reportedly received investment from the tennis star and prolific businesswoman (Osaka) to expand Pressed Roots, Gaines’s blowout bar franchise for textured hair. She was inspired to launch Pressed Roots after experiencing her own hardship with professional styling.
“I had a lot of really terrible salon experiences throughout my life,” she recalls in an interview with Fortune. “When I learned about these blowout bars where people could just walk in and trust that no matter whose chair they sat in, they were in good hands—I had never had any experience like that.”
To date, Gaines has reportedly raised $3.1 million in funding. Other investors that have joined Osaka in backing the brand includes former HP CEO Meg Whitman, and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s Schultz Family Foundation per the outlet. Fortune als reports she was connected with several angel investors through the firm Slauson & Co, who also invested in the company.
“People weren’t going to get their hair done [during COVID],” according to Fortune. “But our demographic was. Even if they don’t have anywhere to go, this demographic needs to get their hair done,” she says. “What resonated with [investors] was that this demographic shows up and they spend a lot of money.” She adds: “We spend a lot of money, a lot of time in salons, and the level of services just do not match the money that we’re spending,” Gaines says. “Our goal is to make quality haircare accessible.”
