Planity, a French booking platform for the beauty industry, has closed a $50 million Series C round. Led by InfraVia Capital Partners, existing shareholders Crédit Mutuel Innovation, Revaia, and Bpifrance Digital Venture also participated. The round brings funding in the SaaS to $105 million since it was founded.
Having become a market leader in France, Planity will be using the funding to power its international expansion, recruit 300 new employees, and further enhance its product with AI. Planity co-founder and CEO Antoine Puymirat answered TFN’s questions about Planity and their plans.
A market leader that is transformative for salons and their customers
Founded in 2017 by CEO Puymirat and co-founded Jérémy Queroy and Paul Vonderscher, Planity has grown to power a quarter of France’s hair and beauty salons appointment systems.
The SaaS is dedicated to beauty professionals, meaning that its features are designed with their needs in mind. As well as booking management, the SaaS integrates other functions, helping to optimise working time and inventory, and even includes cash register features, taking care of much of the day-to-day administration for busy stylists, beauticians, and salons.
Planity has already started its international growth, gaining a foothold in the German and Belgian markets over the last 18 months, becoming the second-largest provider in those markets. It means that, collectively, Planity is managing over 10 million appointments every single month.
Puymirat is clear about why Planity has seen such success. “There are two main factors,” he says, “our business model and our organisation.” Their business model offers salons a commission-free way for customers to make and pay for bookings. However, their organisation means many of Plenty’s staff work close to their customers. “In the field, our presence is wide and has expanded across France, Belgium, and Germany with a system of pair working,” Puymirat explains. “A business developer and an area manager, who manages contracts and trains the customer.”
Salons using the service have seen the benefit. With Planity’s easy-to-use system and coverage helping them attract new clients, increase bookings from existing customers, and automatically remind people to turn up. The company reports that, within a year of adopting Planity, salons average a 16% increase in turnover.
InfraVia, the independent private equity firm that led the round, were attracted by Plenty’s track record and potential. “The model developed by Planity was efficiently carried out in three countries and demonstrates a strong sector trend globally,” said Partner Guillaume Santamaria. He continued to call Planity “an innovative solution that transforms the daily lives of tens of thousands of professionals and millions of consumers.”
Continuing the SaaS’s impressive growth
Planity has ambitious plans for its funding. With their annual recurring revenue passing $40 million, they have reached break-even in its home market of France, they intend to continue to build on their position. Hoping to add to the 40,000 salons already using their solution to become the market leader in all three countries they currently serve, as well as expanding into other territories.
They will also use the funding to develop their product further, implementing conversational AI within the platform to help salons manage bookings and customer enquiries.
However, unusually for a SaaS that is embracing AI, they are also planning to expand their team significantly. By the end of 2024, they anticipate growing their already 400-strong team with a further 300 new employees. The recruitment will be focused on development, sales, and customer services. And new employees will be joining a diverse, but young, team. The average age, says Puymirat, is just 30.
However, despite its tech foundations, Puymirat repeats that a large of part of Planity’s success down to the human element, saying, “humans make the difference in this unique industry, and we focus entirely on personal advice and support.”
They are also looking to expand their product, offering additional ways for customers to pay, additional financial services, like loans and insurance for salons, and even looking at acquiring other companies in the space. It could mean that Planity will take care of much of a salon’s administration and finances, leaving the salon more time to focus on its customers. And it shows that Puymirat really means it when he says, “we’re going to go even further in supporting beauty professionals.”
