Fresha hits $1B valuation with $80M from KKR
What's the deal? London-based beauty and wellness platform Fresha has raised $80 million from KKR, valuing the company at over $1 billion and giving it unicorn status. The primary growth investment brings Fresha's total capital raised to $285 million.
Founded in 2015 by William ZeqiriDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Nick MillerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Fresha provides appointment booking, payments, and business management software for salons, spas, and wellness operators. More than 130,000 businesses and 500,000+ stylists use the platform globally, which facilitates over 35 million appointments per month and processes more than $15 billion in annual gross merchandise volume.
The company says it is operating at more than $140 million in revenue run-rate as of May 2026, is already profitable, and growing at over 60% annually. It will use the new capital to expand internationally and invest in AI-powered tools.
Why now? Investor appetite for vertical AI software businesses — platforms that combine industry-specific tools with embedded artificial intelligence — is running high. Fresha has built strong positions in the UK, Australasia, and the Gulf, and is growing across North America, continental Europe, and southeast Asia.
Patrick DevineDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a partner in KKR's tech growth team, said Fresha had built a "differentiated platform" combining software, financial services, and marketplace capabilities with embedded AI "in a way that is deeply integrated into daily operations of beauty and wellness businesses."
What could go wrong? Scaling across multiple geographies with different regulatory regimes, payment systems, and consumer habits is notoriously difficult. Fresha also faces competition from other vertical software players and incumbent booking tools in each market it enters.
Maintaining profitability while simultaneously funding global expansion and heavy AI investment will test the company's discipline.
The signal: KKR's bet on Fresha reflects a broader trend of large institutional investors moving into vertical SaaS — software built for a specific industry rather than horizontal use cases. The beauty and wellness market, long fragmented and underserved by technology, is attracting serious capital as operators demand modern, all-in-one platforms.
"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 Zeqiri. "With KKR's support, we will be able to further accelerate our global expansion and invest heavily in AI."
Read more: Fresha · TechCrunch · BusinessWire · Sifted
Image credits: Fresha
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