With the recent migration from cash to plastic, more and more customers are demanding the convenience of credit card tipping. As a result, salon owners are facing increased processing fees, and service providers are being forced to wait up to two weeks to receive tips in their bi-weekly paychecks. Salons nationwide have tried various solutions, ranging from disallowing tips on credit cards and instead installing ATMs, much to the disdain of the customers as well as the stylists; or allowing tips on credit cards, but then “playing bank” by dispensing cash at the end of each shift, creating an accounting nightmare.
Enter Tippy, a new disruptive tipping system. Tippy launches nationwide in August 2018, and provides a seamless solution for salon owners to optimize tipping. The solution allows all tips on cards, however, there are no more processing fees for the salon owner. In addition, the stylists get their tips, next day, deposited directly into their bank accounts. Due to the unique user interface the company has created, stylists are reporting tips increasing as much as 35%.

DirectTIPS successfully completed its Series A funding of $1.5 million for Tippy, a disruptive, digital tipping system for the beauty industry. Proceeds will be used to accelerate product innovation and market expansion.
Funding was led by Douglas Von Allmen, founder of Beauty Alliance, the largest privately-owned professional beauty products distributor in the country at the time of its acquisition by L’Oreal in 2007. Additionally, Mr. Von Allmen is the primary investor in BehindTheChair.com, the largest community of salon professionals in the world with over 600,000+ active members.
The round was joined by The Lehigh Valley Angel Investors’ Group and private investor, Michael Caron.