Licensed To Glow ✨

Opening Remarks

This week, I’ve been thinking about one trait that shows up again and again among the best founders: how they handle rejection.

I’ve seen many founders shut down their companies simply because they couldn’t raise. While sometimes that’s the market signaling it’s time to move on, I have a theory that the founders who succeed are often the ones who keep building anyway, improving the product until it’s undeniable. They believe the company will work with or without another dollar of capital.

Ironically, those are often the founders who end up getting funded. Don’t give up just because someone says no. Now, onto this week’s feature:

-Brett

Bulletpitch’s publication covers the hottest early-stage startups before being picked up by larger media outlets. If that’s you, apply here.

Setting the Scene

• Many beauty and aesthetics providers like nail salons or hair stylists struggle with empty appointment slots and low repeat visits.

• Meanwhile, consumers want trusted places they can return to regularly without having to search for a new provider every time.

• Treatments can also be expensive, making affordability an important factor for many consumers.

• The result: providers struggle with predictable demand, while consumers struggle with consistency, convenience, and price.

• This week’s company is building a subscription marketplace that helps consumers discover, book, and return to trusted beauty and aesthetics providers.

In a Sentence

Licensed To Glow is a subscription marketplace where consumers pay a flat fee to discover, book, and return to trusted beauty and aesthetics providers.

• Subscription Marketplace: Customers commit to a monthly or multi-month plan that lets them discover vetted stylists and book treatments through the Licensed To Glow app, with usage tied to their subscription.

• Providers: Partner venues fill unused appointment slots with predictable, recurring demand while accessing a new customer base without relying on discounts or constant promotion.

The Basics

• Industry: Subscription Marketplace, Beauty

• Headquarters: NYC

• Year Founded: 2025

• Employee Count: 4

• Investors: Comma Capital, Colle Capital, Behind Genius Ventures

• Amount Raised: $1.7M

• Business Model: Subscription fees

• Early Traction: $2.4M GMV, $1M Net ARR within 8 months, growing 30-40% MoM, 9x LTV CAC

Sponsored Content**

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

• Verci, the indelible co-working space for founders, just opened a new floor at their new flatiron space and are looking for two more teams to join.

• They have a few small offices and desks available.

• If you’re interested in learning more, check out their website or book a call.

Weekly Feature Continued

Due Diligence

WHAT WE LIKE

• Market Opportunity: Beauty and medical aesthetics is a large and growing category, but providers still struggle with inconsistent demand and empty appointment slots, creating an opportunity for platforms that can aggregate demand and drive repeat bookings.

• Aligning the Incentives: Licensed To Glow gives salons predictable customer volume while offering consumers lower effective prices, aligning incentives across both sides of the marketplace.

• Layered Expansion: By first filling unused appointment capacity, Licensed To Glow could expand into payments, procurement, and operating software to capture more of the aesthetic spend lifecycle.

POTENTIAL RISKS

• Scalability: The model relies on concentrating consumer demand among a limited, curated set of providers, supporting partner economics but potentially limiting how broadly the marketplace can scale supply within a market.

• Partner Trust Risk: Consumers often associate their experience with the platform rather than a single venue, meaning a poor experience at one provider could erode trust across the broader network.

• Market Density: The model depends on strong local density of both consumers and providers, meaning it may perform best in urban markets and face challenges expanding into lower-density suburban areas.

Founder Profile

• Odette Yang, CEO: Former Goldman Sachs and Evercore investment banker.

• Dylan Le: CTO: Former Google and Citadel SWE.

Comps

• LUZO: A marketplace offering discounted one-off beauty and wellness appointments; Licensed To Glow differentiates by using a subscription model that boosts customer loyalty and concentrates repeat demand.

• Mindbody: A consumer app allowing users to purchase appointments and memberships across thousands of wellness and beauty providers; Licensed To Glow differentiates by building an all-inclusive aggregated subscription.

Event Board

• Seed Round Supper, NYC: We’re hosting one of our signature founder dinners in NYC on April 14th! Apply HERE.

• Founder and Investor Dinner, LA: We’re back in Los Angeles on May 12th and hosting a dinner for top-tier founders and investors! Apply HERE.

Cast Your Vote

Last Week Today

• The Results Are In: Corvera, a company building AI agents for CPG operations, got mixed reviews in last week’s poll.

• Subscriber Feedback: “Excellent concept, but it may be difficult for the company to compete with strong ERP software platforms such as SAP who will likely attempt to build these same AI overlays.”