Madison Reed Announces New Funding And CMO

Called by some the Warby Parker of hair color, Madison Reed has announced $13 million in new venture capital funding and a newly hired CMO.

To obtain funding, Madison Reed upped their game on several fronts, including airing QVC spots and debuting a chatbot and a storefront dubbed the Madison Reed Color Bar in New York City.

As the temperature of a company can typically be measured by whether it employees marketing professionals, the announcement of the company’s first chief marketing officer shows positive changes for Madison Reed.

Madison Reed’s first CMO, Heidi Dorosin, was hired by the hair color company after working at Clorox for the past 20 years. TechCrunch quoted Dorosin, who said, “[The hair coloring industry is] a $15 billion market that hasn’t seen much in the way of innovation in decades. Practically every woman over 40 colors her hair, but all women had to choose from before was a crappy box dye or a very expensive salon experience. I think of Madison Reed as the ultimate hair color hack.”

While the Madison Reed brand may be a new name to some, the company has actually been around since 2014, quietly collecting data to help perfect their hair coloring product line. Its hair color quiz and mobile app leads users through 12 hair coloring questions. After two years of data collecting, Madison Reed developed photo recognition technology to help advise users on which of their products would work best for their hair type and color.