Tech in the hair: Ahmedabad-based Goodlii is giving India’s salon industry a makeover with AI
From personalised style suggestions to virtual hairstyle previews, Goodlii aims to create a tech-first salon experience for Indian users. But behind the sleek features is a larger mission: to bring structure and scale to one of India’s most unorganised service sectors.
When searching for a salon near their home in South Bhopal in 2022, Abhinand Pandya and his wife, Niral,i realised that while the area had over 10 salons in the area, there was no easy way to compare services or prices.
“That’s when I realised no app does for salons what Zomato and BookMyShow do for restaurants and movies respectively,” says Abhinand Pandya, the co-founder of Goodlii.
In February 2023, Pandya joined hands with Kahaan Vasa to launch Goodlii, a B2B2C platform that caters to salons and their customers.
The Ahmedabad-based startup, which derives its name from the word "good-looking”, is now helping digitise salons across India, making operations smoother for owners and experiences better for customers.
Users can use the Goodlii app to search for nearby salons, compare prices, view service menus, schedule appointments, and even select their preferred stylist. For salon owners, the app offers a web-based digital toolset that lets them manage everything from bookings and vouchers to memberships and customer communication.
Pandya, Director, Goodlii, has a background in engineering from Vishwakarma Engineering College and has worked with companies like Kotak Mahindra Bank and Cadila Pharmaceuticals. His Co-founder, Kahaan Vada, now the CEO, has worked as a director in EroNkan Technologies.
The founders say Goodlii offers more than just appointment booking. The AI engine stores haircut and service history, so users don’t need to take photos of their look every time. The app suggests when it’s time for a touch-up and even recommends styles based on past preferences.
“You can see what kind of haircut you’ve had over the past five months and get reminders,” Pandya says.
Salon owners using Goodlii get access to features that help with daily work and growing the business over time. The platform has CRM tools that show which customers haven’t visited in a while, so owners can reach out to them through WhatsApp messages. It also allows overlapping bookings, useful for busy salons that handle many clients in short time slots.
“Owners can manage their calendars, send automatic appointment reminders, view detailed sales reports, and track finances to stay organised,” Pandya says.
The platform includes a dashboard for customer data, an inventory system, and the option to create custom workflows. These features help improve how customers are served and can support increasing sales.
Pandya says the startup’s backend runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is designed to support up to one lakh salons and five crore users. The AI engine has been developed in-house, including coding the Google Translate-based language feature, to make the platform accessible in regional languages.
The team is working on an augmented reality (AR) feature that will allow users to preview haircuts, hair colour, or extensions before actually going for the service.
“It will be like a virtual trial room,” says Pandya, adding that it may take up to two years to roll out the AR feature in a stable form.
Goodlii is operational mainly in Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Surat) and Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Ghaziabad, and Varanasi). The startup has onboarded over 2,450 salons and over 1,000 downloads of their app. Some of its early B2B clients include Sneha’s Salon, CUTZ Salon, and Makeup Salon in Gujarat, and Gitanjali Salon in Delhi.
The company follows a subscription-based model for salons, offering three plans: Rs 7,500 (basic), Rs 10,500 (standard), and Rs 12,500 (premium) per year. Higher-tier plans include advanced analytics and additional CRM features like WhatsApp reminders and customer targeting tools.
“The idea is not to make big profits right now. We want more salons to use our system and get comfortable with the platform,” Pandya says.
Goodlii is bootstrapped, with an initial investment of Rs 2.5 crore funded through a mix of personal savings and bank loans. The startup has now secured its first round of external funding from Favcy Venture, which has valued the company at Rs 20 crore in exchange for a 5% stake.
Challenges and the competition
Pandya says different territories have varied problems, including language barriers, lack of trust due to past bad experiences with software vendors, and general tech unawareness.
Competitors like Bengaluru-based GlamPlus have entered the space now, but Goodlii has differentiated itself by focusing on user experience and not turning into a product-focused company. “We don’t want to push a product. We want to build a service that works well for everyone, salon owners and customers.”
Goodlii currently operates from a single office in Gujarat and has a team of 17 people, including finance, marketing, administration, and an outsourced tech team of 11 people.
The startup’s short-term goal is to grow the number of registered salons from 2,450 to 10,000.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti
