Naomi Osaka-backed Pressed Roots hits $6M total, opens first salon outside Texas
What's the deal? Pressed RootsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a textured-hair salon startup founded by Piersten Gaines, has raised $6 million in total funding and will open its fifth company-owned salon — its first outside Texas — in Washington, D.C., in early December. The company's 2024 seed round of $3.1 million drew tennis champion Naomi OsakaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, former HP chief executive officer Meg WhitmanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the Schultz Family FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with Slauson & Co.Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and RevTech VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also participating.
What's the endgame? Gaines, a Harvard Business School graduate, built Pressed Roots to offer standardised, specialist care for textured hair — a persistent service gap. The model started as pop-up salons in 2018 and grew into four profitable Texas locations.
Why now? Customers have asked the company to expand for years, but Gaines wanted to lock in its operating model first. "People have been requesting us in different cities across the country since our inception," she told AFROTECHDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
By the numbers: Revenue rose from more than $2 million in 2022 to $3.5 million in 2023. The seed round ranks around the 90th percentile among all-time wellness and beauty seed deals, by amount.
The expansion: The new salon at 1325 5th Street NE marks the company's first step into the East Coast market. Gaines picked Washington, D.C., for its mix of commercial space, population density, and growth potential, with more area locations planned. The opening is expected to grow the workforce by 50%, from more than 100 employees to around 150.
What could go wrong? Its expansion and profitability claims are largely company-reported. A franchise program is in place, with the first franchise location expected in 2027 — but a single out-of-state salon is a proof point, not yet a national chain.
The signal: The D.C. opening tests whether a Texas salon model built around an underserved niche can travel. If it holds service standards beyond its home state, Pressed Roots could turn a public-health-style gap into a scaled business.
Read more: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Image credit: bzmills
