Parlon, a salon and wellness tech platform based in the Philippines, recently announced raising over $400,000 in a pre-seed funding round.
The fundraise is expected to accelerate Parlon’s expansion throughout Southeast Asia, with the platform having previously launched Parlon Singapore to offer services in the Lion City.
Parlon’s pre-seed funding round was led by WIP Global Ventures, A2D Ventures, and a consortium of angel investors with experience scaling high-impact companies. Notably, over 50% of its investors are women, a noteworthy achievement for Parlon as a startup led by a She Loves Tech alumna.
Founded in 2019 by Kristine Claire Ongcangco and Miko Cornejo, Parlon provides a unique B2B2C beauty and wellness platform which provides merchants a versatile software solution for streamlined operations, CRM, automated reminders, and efficient booking and payment management. For consumers, the platform allows them to easily discover and book services via the Parlon website and app.
Parlon today has added over 500 salon and wellness brands onto its platform, reaching over a thousand branches in the Philippines. It also is the first and only beauty platform to secure an Operator of Payment System license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the only Philippine company to be a Reserve with Google partner. Finally, Parlon has also forged strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as GCash, Grab, Google, Globe, Sodexo, ShopBack, and Share Treats.
Kei San Pablo of WIP Global Ventures remarks, “The beauty and wellness industry has witnessed considerable transformation in recent times. The influx of novel products and services for consumers, coupled with the surge in user-generated content, has instigated a change in demand dynamics and buying influences. Parlon is perfectly positioned amidst this change, aspiring to intertwine a traditionally-oriented industry with technology via its platform, community, and alliances.”
According to A2D Ventures Chief Investment Officer Dylan Keota, the Parlon team stood out for their exceptional understanding of the beauty and wellness industry.
“Although Parlon is still in its nascent stages, the strategic acumen displayed by its founders in prioritizing key business components—such as fintech integrations, CRM (SaaS), development, and brand partnerships—gives us great confidence. We are persuaded that Claire and Miko possess the intelligence and executional capability needed to scale Parlon into a significant player in the marketplace,” said Keota.
Before founding Parlon, Ongcangco and Cornejo, both with a wealth of tech expertise, ran pioneering digital and software solutions agency Concept Machine. The agency served some of the biggest conglomerates and top startups in the Philippines.
Combined with her experience from Concept Machine, Ongcangco’s inspiration for Parlon stemmed from her own personal pain points. “I needed a place where I could browse salon services, view their prices, book appointments, and make purchases with ease—similar to the convenience I experience when shopping on e-commerce platforms,” Ongcangco explained. “I waited for someone to revolutionize this sector for both consumers and merchants. However, it appears that the world was actually waiting for me to break through barriers and muster the courage to finally launch Parlon. With more than 16 million Filipinas aged 20-39, the Philippines was the perfect starting point. Our journey doesn’t end in the Philippines; Southeast Asia, and beyond, deserves to experience Parlon.”
“The salon and wellness service industry has long been underserved. This industry is a niche on its own. Often, it has been treated as an additional vertical or category on platforms,” said Cornejo. “This compels the salon and wellness industry to handle tasks manually or adapt to the tools available out there. This beautiful industry deserves its own platform that revolves around how they operate. With Parlon, they take the spotlight, and we design and ship features to help them grow, innovate, and make their operations more efficient.”
With Parlon’s pre-seed funding, the company will continue to bring in more salon and wellness partners, investing in user growth campaigns, and improve the platform with new and exciting tech features. Backed by innovative technology and utmost dedication to its users, Parlon is on a global mission to be the preferred choice for all beauty needs.