When husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Courtney and Dr. Tye Caldwell discovered that 40% of salon and barbershop space goes unused every day, they built an app to connect fellow salon owners to independent stylists based on a convenient time and price. Now their startup, ShearShare, is a first-of-its-kind B2B beauty marketplace that empowers cosmetologists and barbers to lease space by the day in more than 480 cities and 11 countries worldwide. Salon and barbershop owners can triple their revenue by efficiently filling empty chairs, stylists save in overhead costs (and can even manage their finances in-app), and clients appreciate the flexibility.

In order to raise the funding necessary to grow their business, the Caldwells were selected to pitch investors at Google Demo Day in San Francisco. There, the Google for Startups team provided them with hands-on mentorship and coaching to help hone their story. ShearShare ultimately won the Judges’ Favorite award and secured funding on the spot. "We’re excited to be the first Texas startup to win Google Demo Day," said Dr. Tye. "Google for Startups has been a huge advocate for ShearShare, and we’re huge advocates for Google."

Google technology was essential in building the ShearShare app. The team used Google’s tools to enable in-app messaging and location services. "Location is very important to the stylist when they’re looking to rent space," Dr. Tye said. To reach more people searching for space to work by the day, ShearShare uses Google Ads. "About 30% of our users come to us through Google," said Courtney. "It’s our lowest cost-per-acquisition channel online." And it certainly seems to be working, as ShearShare has experienced 184% year-over-year revenue growth since launching in 2016. The number of businesses on the app has grown by 144%, while revenue per stylist has grown 30% year over year.