How Kenya’s TausiApp uses AI to link freelance beauticians with clients.
An on-demand beauty tech platform called TausiApp, founded in Kenya, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to match clients with independent beauticians.
TausiApp is a marketplace that was founded in 2021 by well-known Kenyan musician Amos Kimani. It allows users to quickly select and schedule beauty services, including as makeup application and hair styling, from a network of certified and experienced beauticians.
“The goal of TausiApp is to empower beauticians by giving them a platform to show off their skills, attract more customers, and become self-employed. Additionally, the platform has quality control procedures in place to guarantee that customers obtain excellent beauty services. Beauticians may launch their own enterprises using TausiApp, and customers can get expert, convenient beauty services at a location of their choice, Kimani told Disrupt Africa.
Kimani’s personal experiences filming music videos and the difficulties he had reserving on-location beauty services served as the inspiration for the app. His idea was to establish a network that would link independent beauticians and customers, drawing inspiration from the ease of use of ride-hailing services.
According to Kimani, “TausiApp found a need in the market for accessible and on-demand beauty services, particularly for independent beauticians who had trouble effectively reaching clients.” “In addition, clients visit salons because of the already-employed beauticians who are typically taken advantage of by receiving commissions of less than thirty percent.”
This is a problem that TausiApp and its rivals BeautyLynk, StyleSeat, and GlamSquad are trying to solve. However, Kimani stated that TausiApp sets itself apart by emphasizing the empowerment of independent beauticians, guaranteeing high-quality services via AI-powered matchmaking, and building an open and equitable marketplace for beauticians and clients.
“In the competitive beauty services industry, TausiApp stands out thanks to its unique approach,” the speaker stated.
In its business-to-business (B2B) market, the platform has seen strong adoption, landing contracts with over 25 boarding boys high schools for on-campus student grooming. Additionally, the business has collaborated with tour and travel agencies to provide travelers in well-known locations like Mombasa and Cape Town on-demand beauty services including massages and manicures.
According to Kimani, “These B2B partnerships highlight the value TausiApp brings to the institutional and travel-related sectors.”
He claimed that although the B2C market has proven to be more difficult, TausiApp has nevertheless managed to draw in over 20,000 customers.
The fact that most of these customers are from gated communities and weddings suggests that there is a need for TausiApp’s services. The current clientele shows the importance and necessity of TausiApp’s solutions, despite the challenges in reaching a larger B2C audience, he said.
The business is actively attempting to increase its market share and open up the product to more customers.
It’s looking for additional funding to do that. TausiApp was first financed in 2022 by a US$100,000 pre-seed investment from Adanian Labs Africa, which gave the platform the setup and launch assistance it needed.
According to Kimani, “TausiApp is currently making a sizable profit from its operations.” “To support growth and expansion, we are actively looking for additional funding through a seed round.”
The startup, which uses a commission-based business model to generate revenue, has already achieved notable success in the Tanzanian, South African, and Kenyan markets and is actively looking for opportunities in other regions.
