Fresha financing paves way for robots in beauty salons
- September 3, 2024
- Steve Rogerson
Robots could soon be working alongside humans in beauty shops, hopes William Zeqiri, CEO of UK firm Fresha, which has secured $31m in financing to drive the growth of its machine-learning capabilities and AI-powered robotics
The debt facility came from JP Morgan, and will accelerate Fresha’s expansion into new markets and, advance its all-in-one platform, which empowers beauty businesses, such as salons, barbershops, spas and aesthetics clinics, to operate efficiently and independently.
By offering a subscription-free business software with embedded payment processing and a consumer marketplace, Fresha helps businesses streamline their entire operations and connect with more customers, levelling the playing field for businesses of all sizes.
To date, Fresha has raised over $185m in venture capital funding, including a $150m series-C round in 2021 led by General Atlantic. As Fresha approaches profitability, this relationship with JP Morgan will further fuel its ambitions to improve the beauty and wellness space.
Fresha’s platform 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 to manage their operations seamlessly.
The Fresha ecosystem offers merchants everything they need to run their businesses effectively, including appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer records management, marketing automation, loyalty programmes, beauty product inventory and team management. The consumer marketplace leverages online bookings and automated marketing through mobile apps and integrations with major tech platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Google, unlocking revenue potential for partner businesses.
Fresha has a network of more than 110,000 merchants, with a strong presence in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The platform’s reach extends across 120 countries, where customers book tens of millions of appointments monthly. To date, Fresha has facilitated transactions worth over $35bn in gross merchandise volume, showcasing its impact on the global beauty and wellness industry. In 2023, the company grew revenues by 67% year-over-year, with a similar level of performance expected in 2024.
“We’re delighted to support Fresha on their continued growth journey,” said Alexandra Wyatt from JP Morgan (www.jpmorgan.com). “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.”
Zeqiri added: “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.”
He said the next step for Fresha (fresha.com) was expanding its research and development in machine learning and integrating AI into daily business operations.
“Our vision is a world where innovation and creativity flourish together, driving progress and enabling everyone to reach their full potential,” he said. “In the not-so-distant future, we envision 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.”