10Beauty Acquires Clockwork, Bringing together the two Leading Innovators in Autonomous Manicures

BURLINGTON, Mass., Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- 10Beauty, a pioneer in Intelligent Beauty, has acquired Clockwork, creator of the world's first AI-powered nail painting robot. This strategic acquisition strengthens 10Beauty's position in automated beauty services as it prepares to launch its complete manicure system this summer.

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to integrate Clockwork's unique intellectual property into the 10Beauty tech stack," said Alex Shashou, Co-CEO of 10Beauty. "Clockwork's machines have painted over 500,000 nails and scanned millions more. Their deep customer insights, AI, algorithms, and computer vision pipeline will be instrumental in accelerating the launch of our full manicure machine."

"Clockwork's achievements since their 2020 pilot have been remarkable," said 10Beauty Co-CEO Justin Effron. "We've long recognized the demand for this type of innovation in the Beauty Industry. Their success and strong consumer response validate the market demand for automated beauty services. We look forward to learning from founders Renuka Apte and Aaron Feldstein."

As part of the transition, Clockwork will sunset its current machines with the sole focus being on continuing the development of 10Beauty's full manicure machine.

"We believe that this move will ultimately lead to a significant leap in convenience for the beauty consumer. We are deeply grateful for the trust our customers have placed in us. As early adopters, they have helped drive a positive shift in the beauty industry — one that will have a lasting impact for years to come. We are excited for this next chapter," said Renuka Apte, Co-Founder and CEO of Clockwork.

About 10Beauty

Based in Burlington, MA, 10Beauty is at the forefront of Intelligent Beauty, utilizing advanced robotics and automation to reinvent beauty service delivery. The company employs approximately 50 of the country's leading robotics engineers and is preparing to launch a fully automated, salon-quality manicure machine.

Co-founded by Alex Shashou and Justin Effron—who previously built and sold ALICE, a B2B hospitality software platform, to Expedia Group, Inc. for $130 million—10Beauty has attracted world-class investors. Its financial backers include Shine Capital, Imaginary Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Red Sea, and the founders of Warby Parker, Harry's, and Allbirds through their venture fund, Good Friends. Several celebrity investors have also joined, including Sara and Erin Foster.

About Clockwork

Clockwork based in San Francisco, CA, develops AI and robots for the $625B beauty industry, starting with a fully-autonomous, commercial manicure robot that brings the precision of surgical robots into consumer applications, enabling a perfect coat of polish in less than 10 minutes. Their robots have done over 500,000 nails across iconic US locations like Rockefeller Center, numerous airports, big-box retail, luxury offices, and universities, in partnership with industry stalwarts. Clockwork's robots have garnered industry recognition, including being featured on Allure's A-List.

Founders Renuka Apte and Aaron Feldstein bring deep expertise in distributed systems and AI from companies like Dropbox and NVIDIA, having led teams that built infrastructure for 700M users, handled 1B+ daily uses, and drove $100M+ in annual revenue. Clockwork's investors include Initialized Capital, Pipeline Capital Partners, MVP ventures, and several high profile angel investors like the co-founder and former CTO of Dropbox, Arash Ferdowsi, and former CMO at Sephora, Julie Bornstein.

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SOURCE 10Beauty