Black-Owned Barbershop App Squire Surpasses $1 Billion In Processed Payments, Says Founder
Squire, the Black-owned all-in-one barbershop management platform, has surpassed $1 billion in payments processed, according to co-founder Songe LaRon.
“It took two years to reach our first $1 million, 5.5 years to $100 million, and now we surpassed $1 billion,” said LaRon.
“Every dollar reflects the hard work of our team and the dedication of the barbers we serve, and I’m deeply grateful to every shop owner, barber, and team member who’s been part of this journey.”
What is Squire?
Founded in 2015 by Songe LaRon and Dave Salvant, the New York-based startup’s booking software is currently used by more than 3000 barber shops.
Squire is a backend platform that provides software for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), booking management, analytics, and point of sales (POS) systems.
It lets businesses retain customers, manage operations, increase revenue, launch memberships, and manage appointments and services all in the one place.
The Journey
After founding the business in 2015 and having little to no customers downloading the app, alongside teething problems with double bookings, the team took a leap of faith in 2016.
They moved to spend a third of their cash to buy out the lease on an ailing barber shop in Manhattan’s Chelsea Market to figure out how a barber shop operates.
After realizing they had to rework Squire, they changed it from a glorified appointment app to something that could handle all the smaller headaches of running a particular type of small business.
Realizing they had to rework Squire, they changed it from a glorified appointment app to something that could handle all the nitty gritty headaches of running a particular type of small business.
The rest is history, and by 2021, Squire had raised $60 million in a round led by Tiger Global and was valued at $750 million.
“As we celebrate, we set our sights on the next billion(s). It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and we’re committed to serving the barbering community for the long haul,” said LaRon.
