Beauty and wellness booking marketplace Fresha has announced an $80 million investment from KKR’s Next Generation Technology Growth fund, valuing the London-based company at more than $1 billion. The investment is notable for coming from KKR’s growth equity arm, which targets companies with proven business models that are still in aggressive expansion mode — a sign that Fresha is past its risky early stages and ready to scale.
Founded in 2015, the London-based company has grown significantly over the past few years. When TechCrunch covers a Fresha fundraising tour In 2021, the company had 60,000 businesses on its platform and worked with More than 150,000 professionals in 120 countries. Today, there are more than 140,000 businesses on the platform and says these businesses book more than 35 million appointments per month through Fresha. This volume – more than a billion appointments annually – puts it among the largest scheduling platforms of any kind, not just within beauty and health.
The company has raised $285 million so far and said it will use the new capital to expand into more countries and develop its AI features.
