Candace Mitchell couldn’t wait any longer.

Mitchell, then age 10, had grown tired of gazing at a large box sitting in the family living room. Full of ambition and keen to explore, Mitchell took it upon herself to connect and then install software on her family’s shiny new computer. Turns out Mitchell’s impatience sparked a passion for computer science.

“I remember thinking, ‘I want to create software that can run on millions of computers like this one day,’” Mitchell, now 36, tells Forbes.

In June, she came one step closer to achieving that childhood dream.

Mitchell’s software startup, Myavana, closed on a $5.9 million raise from investors, including Amazon, H/L Ventures, Reform Ventures, and New Age Capital. Cosmetics giant Ulta Beauty led the capital round through its corporate venture arm, Prisma Ventures. Ulta Beauty trades on the Nasdaq with a $15.3 billion market cap.

Post-raise, Mitchell tells Forbes that Myavana is now valued at $50 million. In 2021, Myavana was valued at $20 million, according to venture capital data firm PitchBook. Myavana says it’s profitable and expects revenue will surpass $10 million in 2024.

“We’re in the perfect time of the market,” Mitchell says. “But we had to start 12 years ago.”

August is National Black Business Month and ForbesBLK will honor the month with Road to Economic Empowerment. This journalism series will showcase innovative Black entrepreneurs like Mitchell and host insightful discussions with business leaders and influential figures to shed light on key business issues affecting Black America.

In 2021, there were more than 161,000 Black or African-American majority-owned firms in the U.S., according to federal data collected by think tank Pew Research Center. Overall revenue increased to $183.3 billion up from $127.9 billion between 2017-2021. The firms comprised only 3% of businesses owned in the U.S. and employed about 1.4 million workers with a combined payroll of over $53 billion.

Founded in 2012, Atlanta-based Myavana is one of the Black-owned enterprises – a software-as-a-service tech company that raised $6.2 million since its founding and employs 22 people.

Myavana’s platform uses a library of hair samples to train its software on product recommendations for consumers that best match their hair texture. Myavana says the software works for all ethnicities and genders. However, Mitchell adds that the core demographic is Black women, who represent more than 80% of Myavana’s customers. The firm doesn’t produce or sell products, rather it makes money from software subscriptions and licensing fees from clients including Procter & Gamble, Nordstrom and Unilever. Myavana estimates its mobile app, Myavana AI, has 50,000 subscribers.

“It’s the computer science and cosmetology that allow us to do it,” Mitchell says. “That knowledge that’s baked into our algorithms – that’s how this works for all hair textures, types and conditions.”

The cosmetic and beauty industry in the U.S. is worth approximately $100 billion, according to industry research firm IBIS World. Of that amount, haircare products make up $15 billion. As consumers shift more shopping habits online, the industry is seeing an uptick of interest in “predictive cosmetics platforms,” says Oliver Libby, a managing partner at H/L Ventures.

In January, Libby first learned about Myavana’s software and was quickly convinced of its future revenue potential.

“This company is high traction and growing quickly,” Libby says. “You have this data, particularly chemical analysis on the hair – you could see a Myavana health (division) come out of this.”

A native of Stone Mountain, Georgia, Mitchell’s passion for software intensified throughout her childhood. In high school, Mitchell studied web design. In 2006, she enrolled at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she learned to write algorithms before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. After college, Mitchell had IT roles at Siemens and Pepsi.

In November 2011, she made the scary leap into entrepreneurship. It took Mitchell watching CNN’s Black in America: The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley documentary for motivation. The program featured businesswoman Angela Benton, the founder of startup accelerator NewMe—a first-of-its-kind accelerator for minority entrepreneurs.

“It’s like that moment when you feel like, ‘If I don’t go for it, I’m going to miss it,’” Mitchell says. Pondering the decision to trade in her apartment for a small room with her mother, and only $1,000 in her checking account to start Myavana, “It’s been a journey for me to get here,” Mitchell says.

Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how people interact with computers. Though excitement around AI is cooling, investors still poured more than $21 billion of capital into AI and machine learning companies in the first quarter of 2024, according PitchBook data.

Armed with a truckload of data on human hair and capital to grow, Mitchell predicts Myavana will thrive in a changing AI environment. The startup will use funds to enhance digital infrastructure. Myavana plans to install kiosks in beauty shops throughout the country, and further test a retail store in Africa.

Years from now, Myavana will be IPO-bound. “That’s my North Star,” Mitchell says. A lofty goal — one that requires patience.

Capital Gains: Watch the video to learn how Candace Mitchell scaled Myavana after securing her first $35,000 investment.