Co-builder invests in Vietnam shared beauty shop Haute Avenue

Company builder Qbuilder, which supports local startups in Vietnam, said on the 28th that it had invested in HAUTE AVENUE, a shared beauty salon in Vietnam. The investment amount was not disclosed.

Located in central Ho Chi Minh City, HAUTE AVENUE is a shared beauty salon created to give experienced beauty artists looking to start their own businesses a low-cost, fast path to entrepreneurship. It provides each artist with a dedicated space, furniture and equipment, as well as services such as online marketing, recruitment, legal support and tax assistance, allowing artists to focus on serving clients.

The salon welcomes artists in a range of fields, including hair, makeup, nails, skincare, massage, semi-permanent makeup and tattoos. Artists set their own hours, services and prices. All revenue from their services goes directly to the artists, with no fees or additional charges beyond a fixed membership fee.

HAUTE AVENUE also offers marketing training to help artists build their personal brands. Regular seminars and one-on-one consultations cover topics such as creating and managing an effective social media presence and producing and managing portfolio content. Reflecting the fact that many freelance artists in Vietnam also sell beauty products, the salon has dedicated display space where visitors can discover skincare, color cosmetics and inner beauty products.

Vietnam’s beauty market, estimated at $2 billion, is growing 10% annually and emerging as Southeast Asia’s most attractive beauty market. The beauty services sector, supported by a population of 100 million, is seen as the next blue ocean. Yet most freelance artists still provide services on location rather than working from a fixed space. HAUTE AVENUE aims to serve these freelancers and establish itself as an ideal option for starting a business quickly and safely.

“Because the cost of opening a beauty salon, excluding labor, is not much different in Vietnam and Korea, beauty artists in Vietnam have had few options: go independent as freelance professionals who travel to clients, or move to a large salon,” said Lee Joo-hong, co-founder of Qbuilder. “We expect HAUTE AVENUE, which brings the shared-space model to beauty services, to attract strong interest from Vietnamese artists seeking independence.”

HAUTE AVENUE is scheduled to officially open in October. Starting with its first location in Ho Chi Minh City, the company is preparing to expand to other Vietnamese cities in the first half of 2022. It also plans to pursue collaborations with Korean artists and beauty brands.