A fully automated manicure at the touch of a button? Israeli startup Nimble Beauty, which has developed a robot that delivers home manicures based on 3D imaging, has raised $10 million, the company announced Monday.
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Nimble's technology scans the user's hand in a small machine, identifying the unique structure of their fingernails. Once the scan is complete, the company's algorithms set a small robot arm in motion, which paints the user's nails in four manicure steps: a base, two layers of polish, and a top coat. The machine also diffuses warm air, drying each layer completely.
The idea for the robot manicurist was born in 2016. CEO Omri Moran says, "The idea for Nimble arose after a very long wait for a date with someone who wound up becoming my wife."
"When I asked what was holding her up, she explained it was because of her manicure. Even the delay wasn't long enough for her to do her nails, and she gave up on it. The conversation on the date was all about all the problems and difficulties of manicures and I realized there was an urgent need for a technological solution," Moran says.
He went on to found Nimble Beauty with CTO Ron Miller and Avichay Mor-Yosef, VP of R&D. Moran and Miller had previously founded a startup named KitLocate that was acquired by the Yandex corporation.
The Nimble manicure robot is available for pre-purchase through Kickstarter. Within 11 minutes of the campaign going live, the company had met its funding goal. Over 4,000 units have already been ordered, at a total of over $1.3 million. Once acquired, Nimble's robot receives periodic software updates, like other smart devices.
Thus far, Nimble has raised $10 million, led by Entrée Capital and the LionBird Foundation, with contributions from the IBI Tech Fund, Aristagora VC, and private investors, including Allot founder Yigal Yaakobi and Ziv Elul, founder of InnerActive, and Moovit founder Nir Erez.
The company employs 12 workers at its offices in Israel and New York, and is recruiting more employees for R&D and marketing.
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