Clockwork

Clockwork is a robotics company in the beauty industry that developed AI-powered robots to provide express manicures. The company was founded in 2018 by Renuka Apte and Aaron Feldstein, former engineers from Dropbox, to address the time-consuming and expensive nature of traditional beauty services. Apte, a new mother at the time, was inspired to create a solution for time-pressed individuals seeking accessible self-care.

The company's primary product was a fully autonomous robot that used AI, 3D scanning technology, and computer vision to identify the shape of a person's nails and paint them with sub-millimeter accuracy in under 10 minutes for a cost of approximately $10. The service was designed as a polish change, requiring users to arrive with their nails already filed and shaped. The system used a variety of well-known nail polish brands and proprietary formulas. The process was largely automated, with customers interacting with the machine through a touchscreen and voice control.

Clockwork's business model was B2B2C, deploying its robots in high-traffic commercial and retail locations such as airports, corporate offices, and retail stores like Target. Partners paid an upfront hardware deployment fee, a monthly fee, and a percentage of the revenue generated from the end-users. The company served over 19,000 customers and had robots deployed in major cities including New York, Miami, and San Francisco. Clockwork secured a total of $29.8M in funding from investors including Initialized Capital, Pipeline Capital Partners, and the co-founder of Dropbox.

In February 2025, Clockwork was acquired by 10Beauty, another company in the automated beauty space. As part of the acquisition, Clockwork's existing machines were to be sunsetted, with the joint focus shifting to the development of 10Beauty's more comprehensive full manicure machine.

Keywords: robotic manicures, AI beauty, automated beauty services, nail painting robot, express manicure, computer vision, beauty technology, self-care robotics, autonomous systems, beauty automation, robotics startup, nail care technology, AI-powered services, retail technology, airport amenities