- Fresha has raised $80M from KKR at a $1B+ valuation, making it the newest London unicorn and bringing complete funding to $285M
- Based within the UAE in 2015 by William Zeqiri, a former Dubai Holding VP, Fresha relocated to London and quietly grew to become one of many world’s high 10 life-style apps
- The sweetness and wellness platform is already worthwhile, with a $140M+ income run-rate rising at over 60% yearly throughout 130,000 companies in 120 nations
In 2015, William Zeqiri was a expertise government in Dubai with a easy remark: the wonder trade was working on paper appointment books, fragmented software program, and guesswork. He constructed a platform to repair it. A decade later, KKR has simply valued that platform at $1 billion.
Fresha has closed an $80 million progress spherical from KKR, the New York-based world funding agency whose Subsequent Era Know-how Progress technique has beforehand backed Reserv, Coder, and Trainline, and, in Europe, just lately led a $370 million round into hotel software unicorn Lighthouse. The transaction values Fresha at over $1 billion, making it the latest addition to the UK’s unicorn club, and brings complete funding to $285 million. That is KKR’s first and sole funding in Fresha, and the primary institutional capital the corporate has taken since a $30.8 million venture debt round from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in August 2024.
The founder’s journey isn’t a typical one. William Zeqiri spent years working in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, together with a stint as VP of Know-how at Dubai Holding, earlier than founding Fresha within the UAE in 2015 alongside co-founder Nicholas Miller. The corporate initially launched as Shedul, a scheduling-first platform that stripped away subscription charges completely to drive speedy service provider adoption. It rebranded to Fresha because it expanded into market and funds, ultimately relocating its headquarters to London because it scaled globally.
That early conviction attracted backing from UAE-based buyers who recognised the chance first. MEVP, Fresha’s first institutional investor at seed in 2015, generated a 39x cash-on-cash return and 88% IRR when it took a partial exit through the Collection C led by Basic Atlantic in 2021, and a 52x a number of and over 90% IRR through the Collection C extension six months later at a $640 million valuation. These are among the many strongest early-stage returns recorded within the area’s tech historical past.
How Fresha works and why it has grown
Fresha operates as each a shopper market and a B2B software program platform for magnificence and wellness companies. On the patron aspect, it lets folks uncover and e book appointments. On the enterprise aspect, it replaces the fragmented instruments most salons, barbershops, spas, and studios depend on, combining appointment administration, point-of-sale funds, consumer advertising and marketing, stock, and monetary companies into one system. The platform monetises by cost processing charges, subscription plans launched in 2025, and new consumer reserving commissions reasonably than a single flat month-to-month price.
That construction has pushed adoption that speaks for itself: 130,000 companies, 500,000+ stylists, 120 nations, 35 million appointments per thirty days, and greater than $15 billion in annual transactions. As of Might 2026, it’s rising at over 60% yearly with a income run-rate exceeding $140 million, and it’s already worthwhile, a distinction that almost all firms at this valuation degree can’t declare.
The corporate has roughly 500 staff and is headquartered in London, with workplaces in New York, Sydney, Dublin, Amsterdam, Dubai, and Warsaw.
“Reaching unicorn standing is a proud milestone, however extra importantly, this funding is a powerful testomony to the belief our companions place in Fresha day-after-day,” mentioned William Zeqiri, Founder and CEO. “With KKR’s help, we can additional speed up our world growth and make investments closely in AI to rework how magnificence and wellness companies function worldwide.”
The aggressive panorama
Fresha’s most direct rivals are Booksy, which raised $70 million in a Collection C led by Tiger International and is powerful in North America and Europe; Vagaro, which has raised $63 million and focuses on the US market with a subscription-based strategy; and Mindbody, which targets the health and wellness finish of the market. The place Fresha differs is its built-in funds infrastructure and market technique, which creates recurring income at scale whereas retaining the barrier to entry low for brand new companies becoming a member of the platform.
KKR’s funding got here by its Subsequent Era Know-how Progress technique, the identical automobile it makes use of to again firms with confirmed enterprise fashions which are in aggressive growth mode. The agency isn’t backing a wager. It’s backing a enterprise that already works.
“Fresha has constructed a differentiated platform, combining software program, monetary companies, and market capabilities with embedded AI, in a means that’s deeply built-in into day by day operations of magnificence and wellness companies,” mentioned Patrick Devine, Accomplice and member of KKR’s Tech Progress staff.
The market it’s scaling into
The spa and salon software program market was valued at $1.01 billion in 2025 and is projected to succeed in $1.86 billion by 2031, rising at a ten.68% CAGR, in accordance with Mordor Intelligence, pushed by post-pandemic wellness spending, the shift from guide appointment books to cloud-based programs, and the rising integration of AI, embedded funds, and market instruments into salon operations. Fresha holds robust positions within the UK, Australasia, and the Gulf, the identical area the place it was born, with North America, Continental Europe, and Southeast Asia as its subsequent growth priorities.
A founder who noticed an issue in Dubai. A platform that quietly grew to become one of many world’s most used life-style apps. And a $1 billion valuation backed by one of many world’s most discerning progress buyers. The query now isn’t whether or not Fresha can scale — it already has. The query is how far.
