Investors can purchase preferred stock in CLICS at a $20 million valuation. This price represents a steep revenue multiple of almost 100x based on the company’s 2020 revenue of roughly $200,000. CLICS has previously raised over $5.6 million despite low revenues, which has likely driven up its offering valuation. This price is very steep compared to typical early-stage companies with similar traction, so CLICS’ price rating is very low.

The salon hair color products market is projected to hit roughly $5 billion by 2026 as a subset of the $26 billion professional hair care market. There are almost a million hair salons in the U.S., each spending tens of thousands on hair color in a given year. 

While hair color waste does seem to be an issue at professional salons, it’s likely that not every salon owner is eager to purchase a CLICS system. Assuming conservatively that CLICS could capture 5% of the global hair color market, the company’s addressable market sits around $250 million. However, CLICS would not necessarily capture all of the money traditionally spent on hair color products themselves (particularly because the product is intended to reduce color waste), so potential future revenues are much lower. 

Overall, CLICS sells to a relatively niche market of salon owners willing to adopt a new hair color system, which is a much more narrow market than that of more broadly-oriented early stage companies. Therefore, CLICS’ market rating is very low. 

CLICS was founded by a former salon owner, Leilani Macedo. Macedo was frustrated by hair color waste at her own salon and developed the idea for a more precise hair color dispensing system. She sold her salon and began focusing on bringing the CLICS system to life. Before CLICS, Macedo had worked for 25 years as a cosmetologist. She holds an associates degree in business from Truckee Meadows Community College. 

CLICKS’ CEO Charles Brown met Macedo while she was cutting his hair. Macdeo pitched Brown the idea for CLICS, and he got involved first as the company’s CFO and later as chief executive. Brown has almost 40 years of business experience. He has contributed to or led several foundational internet projects, including initial internet development for the U.S. Air Force, the first commercial email service, and the first commercial virtual private network (VPN) technology, which led to a $630 million exit. 

The CLICS team also includes part-time CFO Greg Jasenovec, who has served as a senior financial executive for several firms over a 40-year career in business. 

The CLICS team is impressive because its members contribute both deep hair salon expertise and experienced business acumen. Therefore, the CLICS team rating is quite strong.

The CLICS system represents a dramatic improvement over stylists’ traditional color-mixing method. Color mixing has historically been an approximate process fraught with errors and waste. Stylists themselves aren’t incentivized to be particularly cautious about mixing color, but salon owners watch with horror as expensive dye is rinsed down the drain. Therefore, the CLICS system is strongly differentiated from existing coloring methods. 

CLICS is not the only company innovating to improve the color mixing process. However, it seems to be the only company with a patented dispenser system that makes color mixing as simple as a few taps on a touchscreen. Competitors like Vish and SureTint incorporate technology in the color mixing process, but stylists still mix color by hand with the help of on-screen instructions. CLICS has built a wide competitive moat with its proprietary, manufactured dispenser design (which has won CLICS a pilot with a major beauty company). Therefore, CLICS’ differentiation score is its highest across all five metrics.

CLICS took several years to develop its dispenser prototypes and sell fully-functioning dispensers to salons. CLICS was soft-launched to salons in December of 2019 — and suffered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic when most salons closed shop in March 2020. Nonetheless, the company has shown significant revenue growth in recent months, in part due to its six-figure pilot program with a leading beauty company (further details on the partnership are not given). 

In 2018 and 2019, CLICS generated virtually no revenue and operated at a net loss of $1.1 million and $1.6 million respectively, with significant product development costs. This year, though, the company has generated over $100,000 to date through Q3 and projects more than $200,000 in revenue for the year 2020. Revenue is projected to continue growing into Q1 2021, up to $295,000 in that quarter alone. It is not clear what CLICS’ expenses were for 2020, but regardless, the company has shown notable revenue growth despite the pandemic. Therefore, CLICS’ performance rating is strong.

CLICS does not appear to have a strong go-to-market plan in place, perhaps because 2020 has been a difficult year to market to hair salons. While the company’s pilot with a leading beauty company spurred a pop in 2020 revenue, it is not yet clear whether CLICS is prepared to market and sell its product effectively enough to win revenue from a critical mass of salons nationwide. 

Moreover, CLICS is not the only company thinking about more efficient hair color mixing. While CLICS undoubtedly has a competitive moat due to its patented design and major beauty brand partnership, other startups are developing color mixing solutions too. Large corporations could also begin developing in-house solutions to complement their salon color products. If CLICS cannot enter salons rapidly in 2021, the company may struggle to grow enough to earn its aggressive valuation. 

CLICS’ product clearly meets a need among salon owners. Founder Leilani Macedo’s story as a former salon owner who started the company to meet a real need she observed in the market is a powerful one. CLICS has posted impressive revenue figures for 2020 despite the pandemic that shut down salons nationwide. The company is also clearly winning the interest of major beauty brands given its paid pilot with one of them. 

CLICS seems to be in need of a strong sales and marketing plan, but those disciplines are arguably simple to develop compared to the product development process that has already sparked a successful patent. If salons can return to full power in 2021 and CLICS’ pilot with a major beauty brand is a success, CLICS may be able to continue expanding its competitive moat and posting impressive revenue gains toward an eventual acquisition by a hair color manufacturer.

CLICS is a system for salon owners, who have been hard-hit by COVID-19. Surprisingly, though, CLICS’ first year of revenue generation has gone reasonably well. More than $200,000 in revenue when most buyers aren’t in business is an achievement, as is landing a six-figure pilot with a major beauty brand. The CLICS team — composed of a former salon owner with strong insight into the target market and a proven business builder — seems to be steering the company toward strong growth. 

Prospective investors should note that CLICS’ $20 million valuation represents an extremely high revenue multiple, and it is a bit too early to tell whether CLICS will pull off a strong go-to-market in a non-pandemic year. Nonetheless, the company’s track record thus far is strong, so CLICS has been rated a Deal to Watch. 

For questions regarding the KingsCrowd staff pick or ratings for this company, please reach out to support@kingscrowd.com. 

Analysis written by Katy Dolan.