London-based Fresha, a marketplace platform for beauty and wellness, has a $31 million venture debt facility from JP Morgan, which recently invested in Klarna rival Tabby.
With this, Fresha has raised over $185 million in venture capital funding to date, including a $150 million Series C round in 2021. This new relationship with J.P. Morgan will further fuel its ambitions to revolutionise the beauty and wellness space.
How will it use the investment?
This will accelerate the company’s expansion into new markets and drive the growth of its machine learning capabilities and AI-powered robotics, further advancing its all-in-one platform.
“We’re delighted to support Fresha on their continued growth journey,” said Alexandra Wyatt, U.K. Innovation Economy banking at J.P. Morgan. “Fresha is steering the rapidly expanding beauty and wellness space with its innovative technology and strong unit economics. Their unique business model is transforming the industry landscape, and it’s precisely the type of innovation we want to help drive globally.”
What does the company do?
Founded by William Zeqiri and Nicholas Miller in 2015, Fresha’s beauty and wellness platform empowers businesses, such as salons, barbershops, spas, and aesthetics clinics, to operate efficiently and independently. It allows consumers to discover, book, and pay for beauty and wellness appointments with local businesses through its marketplace.
Beauty and wellness professionals’ benefit from an all-in-one platform that includes free business software and financial technology solutions to manage their operations seamlessly.
It offers merchants everything they need to run their businesses effectively, including appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer records management, marketing automation, loyalty programs, beauty product inventory, and team management. The consumer marketplace leverages online bookings and automated marketing through mobile apps and advanced integrations with major tech platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Google, unlocking significant revenue potential for partner businesses.
Currently, Fresha boasts a network of over 110,000 merchants, with a strong presence in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. The platform’s reach extends across 120 countries, where customers book tens of millions of appointments monthly.
What’s next for Fresha?
Fresha is expanding its research and development in machine learning and integrating AI into daily business operations. It envisions AI-powered robots working alongside humans in the beauty and wellness space. Robots can handle repetitive tasks, such as managing bookings, mixing colours, welcoming customers, or managing inventory, freeing up valuable time for stylists to focus on personalising their services and honing their craft.
“We are thrilled to be working with J.P. Morgan,” said William Zeqiri, Founder and CEO of Fresha. “The beauty and wellness industry is a dynamic world, buzzing with creativity, innovation, and an endless quest for service enhancement. Today, there is so much potential to be unlocked. Beauty service providers need a 360-degree view of each client, including booking behaviour, preferences, payment methods, and lifetime value. Extracting insights from every transaction has become a key competitive advantage, allowing our users to offer highly tailored and personalised services.”
