London-based beauty and wellness software startup Fresha has raised $80m from private equity giant KKR at a valuation of more than $1bn, giving the company unicorn status as investors continue to back vertical AI software businesses.
Founded in 2015 by William Zeqiri and Nicholas Miller, Fresha provides appointment booking, payments and business management software for salons, spas and wellness operators.
The company says it is already profitable and plans to use the fresh capital to expand internationally and invest further in AI-powered tools.
More than 130k businesses use the company’s platform globally across sectors including hair, beauty, barbering, fitness and aesthetics. The company facilitates more than 35m appointments each month and processes over $15bn in annual gross merchandise volume.
The startup has built strong positions in the UK, Australasia and the Gulf, while growing across North America, continental Europe and southeast Asia. The latest funding brings Fresha’s total capital raised to $285m.
“Reaching unicorn status is a proud milestone, but more importantly, this investment is a strong testament to the trust our partners place in Fresha every day,” said William Zeqiri, Founder and CEO of Fresha.
“KKR brings deep experience scaling category-defining technology companies, and their conviction in our vision gives us tremendous confidence as we enter this next chapter.”
Patrick Devine, a partner in KKR’s tech growth team, said Fresha had built a “differentiated platform” combining software, payments and marketplace tools with embedded AI features.
