• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Manicube raises $5 million for in-office ‘beauty chores’

By
Erin Griffith
Erin Griffith
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Erin Griffith
Erin Griffith
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 14, 2014, 7:07 PM ET
Manicube has 90 corporate clients in three cities.

FORTUNE — Certain industries are known for their over-the-top employee perks. Workers in the finance and tech sectors, for example, enjoy such benefits as unlimited vacations and free lunches. Now you can add one more perk to the list: “beauty chores.”

Manicube, a New York-based startup, offers manicures and pedicures to working women in their offices. This week the company raised $5 million from Bain Capital Ventures and F Cubed, bringing the total raised to $5.85 million.

Manicube is part of a rising class of startups offering software platforms for service industries. Call it the “Uber for X” category. Here are a few examples:

  • Homejoy connects consumers with house cleaners.
  • Handybook and HouseCall connect consumers with plumbers and handymen.
  • Houzz connects consumers with home renovation contractors.
  • Kitchensurfing connects consumers with private chefs.
  • Washio and FlyCleaners connect consumers with laundry services.
  • Dashlocker connects consumers with dry cleaners.
  • Washly connects consumers with car washing services.
  • Swifto and Fettch connect consumers with dog walkers.
  • BlackJet connected consumers with private jets (briefly).
  • Silvercar connects consumers with airport car rental services.
  • And of course, Uber connects them with black car services.

In the beauty and personal care sector, specifically, there’s Glamsquad, which offers in-home blowouts. And there’s Zeel, which connects consumers with massage therapists.

Manicube is the only one of its kind that’s going through corporate clients rather than marketing directly to consumers. Co-founder Katina Mountanos says the company chose to start that way because it’s a lean model. The offices can market Manicube’s services on its behalf, and it’s convenient for the nail technician to see a large group of clients all in one place.

MORE: Food startups are cookin’

The company got started after Mountanos and co-founder Liz Whitman noticed that the perks at their Wall Street employers were mostly male-focused: shoe shining, a barbershop, and suit tailoring. The senior-level men at these companies had started these services, but hadn’t considered what perks might be attractive to women. Getting one’s nails done has become part of a standard list of “beauty chores” carried out each week by many women. The nail salon industry netted $7.5 billion in revenue and is expected to grow to $10 billion in the next five years. Yet it’s entirely fragmented, dominated by local mom-and-pop shops with no national player.

So they launched Manicube in 2012 and quickly expanded from New York to Boston, racking up more than 90 corporate clients. The company now provides 5,000 manicures a month and is growing by 100% each month. Half of all of its clients get a manicure every two weeks; many of them get 50 manicures through Manicube each year. (They cost between $12 and $20 each.)

Manicube pitches itself to companies as a way to retain female employees by making their lives easier.

“We want to save these women an hour,” Mountanos says. “Knowing that women who work full-time have their household, their children, their spouse, their fitness, and their personal chores to handle, beauty chores can fall to the bottom of the list.”

Working women have a number of personal care and beauty routine items that they consider a part of their professional upkeep. In addition to geographic expansion, Manicube plans to experiment beyond manicures and pedicures into other beauty services.

About the Author
By Erin Griffith
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
North America
'I meant what I said in Davos': Carney says he really is planning a Canada split with the U.S. along with 12 new trade deals
By Rob Gillies and The Associated PressJanuary 28, 2026
8 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
Yes, you're getting a bigger tax refund. Your kids won't thank you for the $3 trillion it's adding to the deficit
By Daniel BunnJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, January 27, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
As AI wipes out desk jobs, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser says the company is training 175,000 employees to ‘reinvent themselves’ before their roles change forever
By Emma BurleighJanuary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, January 26, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
Ryan Serhant thinks the American Dream was just a 'slogan created by banks,' but it was really about FDR, the Great Depression, and an economic crisis
By Sydney Lake and Nick LichtenbergJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago

Latest in

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc
AIMeta
Meta beats on Q4 revenue as Mark Zuckerberg predicts a ‘major AI acceleration’ in 2026—with up to $135 billion in capex spending to match
By Sharon GoldmanJanuary 28, 2026
32 minutes ago
The company logo is displayed on a building in the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) complex in Decatur, Illinois.
LawFinance
More than 30 years after fraud at Archer Daniels Midland inspired a Matt Damon film, the company was hit with a $40M fine in a price-fixing probe
By Sheryl EstradaJanuary 28, 2026
43 minutes ago
Lebron James holds the U.S. flag and waves on a boat.
SuccessOlympics
Every U.S. Olympian is going home with $200,000, whether they medal or not, thanks to a billionaire’s $100 million gift
By Jacqueline MunisJanuary 28, 2026
1 hour ago
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott
InvestingServiceNow
ServiceNow stock falls despite earnings beat as CEO Bill McDermott tries to get investors to stop thinking of it as a SaaS company
By Jeremy KahnJanuary 28, 2026
2 hours ago
Fed Chair Jerome Powell stands at podium and talks
PoliticsFederal Reserve
Jerome Powell says Fed independence isn’t lost… yet. ‘I certainly hope we won’t’ lose it
By Jake AngeloJanuary 28, 2026
2 hours ago
troops
PoliticsTaxes
The American taxpayer spent nearly half a billion dollars deploying federal troops to U.S. cities in 2025, CBO finds
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 28, 2026
2 hours ago