Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

A new voice has emerged in the Knoxville Entrepreneurship Community —Charles C. Brandon. As the Chairman and CEO of Blank Beauty, he’s on a mission to transform how we think about cosmetics, offering a personalized approach that’s resonating with more and more consumers. The Blank Beauty Team excels at taking ideas from “zero to one” and has proven their ability to scale these technologies both online and in-store

Blank Beauty is quickly gaining momentum as a brand to watch. Plus, it has recently relocated its headquarters to Knoxville. Through a partnership with APTUS DesignWorks of the neighboring Alcoa, TN, Blank Beauty has developed a robotic system capable of mixing primary colors to create thousands of custom colors. Currently, the focus is on nail polish, but Brandon’s ambitions go far beyond the multi-billion-dollar nail industry.

This journey didn’t happen overnight. Brandon has been working on this vision since he was 19, and after eight years of development, it’s taking off in a big way. The company’s star product, the “Huey” machine, is already in three Walmart stores as a pilot, gaining popularity with customers who love its cutting-edge technology and personalization options. Videos of Huey gather millions of views on social media, and the comments section often features customers asking for a device to be installed in a customer’s local Walmart.

“We’ve seen firsthand how much our customers love the Huey,” Brandon shared. “Customization is a huge driver. People love the idea of matching nail polish to their outfits, eye color, or even creating a one-of-a-kind shade that represents their personality.”

The Huey machine uses 12 primary pigments to generate over 16,000 unique color combinations. Each bottle of nail polish it produces is a one-of-a-kind creation. And it’s not just the technology that’s turning heads—the machine itself is an attraction. Its name and bright pink exterior, which Brandon deliberately chose, gives Huey a playful character that draws in both shoppers and families.

But Huey’s value extends beyond personalization –– the machine is proving to be an additional bonus for retailers. Nail polish is often locked behind glass in high-theft areas, but any store with a Huey can offer thousands of products to their customers with no risk of theft. To start the creation process, customers must pre-pay with a credit card.

“Stores lose a lot of potential sales when nail polishes get stolen, or when customers don’t want to wait for someone to unlock a glass case,” said Brandon. “An unexpected benefit of Huey is that it offers both theft protection and convenience.”

For most of this journey, Brandon and his team were based in Memphis. However, their partnership with Alcoa-based APTUS and its founder, Ben Nibali, led to frequent long commutes. To bridge that gap and position the company for further growth, Blank Beauty made the strategic decision to relocate to Knoxville.

“I was spending six hours driving each way, sometimes multiple times a week,” Brandon explained. “We realized it would be better for everyone if we moved the company to Knoxville.”

The move positions Knoxville as a rising hub for innovation in the beauty tech sector. Blank Beauty has leased a space in the heart of Old City Knoxville, which will house the Innovation Team and a tester Huey machine. Brandon revealed each Huey device, less than 4 square feet, can generate over $1M a year in Revenue when fully automated.

Blank Beauty is currently raising a $6 million Series A round, with most of the funding already secured. More details will be shared about the Series A round when it officially closes mid-February.

Those investments – Brandon said, extend beyond investing in a “nail polish” company. Investors are backing a technology platform that Blank has created that spans across various categories. For example, he envisions applications in custom foundations for skin tones and even personalized paint for homes and businesses.

During the fundraising process, Brandon has brought several large investment firms to East Tennessee, allowing them to see Huey in action and experience Knoxville’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem firsthand. Blank Beauty plans to reinvest that capital directly into its Knoxville operations.

In addition to funding, Blank Beauty is also building a top-tier team. A key member of Blank Beauty, Tanner Reichard, has also moved to Knoxville to lead the company’s data and artificial intelligence projects as the Chief Data Officer. “The Knoxville Community is ripe with talent and support from both the Oak Ridge National Lab and the University. We are excited to grow with this amazing part of Tennessee”. Surrounded by engineers with unique backgrounds, Brandon is confident that his team is ready to support the company’s rapid growth.

“Nail polish may be a smaller market, but in the cosmetics or coatings industry, the potential for our technology is limitless,” he said. “We want to be known as a tech company that turns custom digital ideas into physical products within minutes.”

So, don’t forget Charles C. Brandon and Blank Beauty Team. They will be rising stars in the Knoxville startup scene.

Try the Blank Beauty experience here.

Connect with Charles Brandon.

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