How a Dubai tech executive built a $1B beauty platform in London and convinced KKR to back it with $80M — TFN

• 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 prime 10 way of life 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 statement: the wonder business was operating 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 international funding agency whose Subsequent Technology Expertise Development technique has beforehand backed Reserv, Coder, and Trainline, and, in Europe, 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 Expertise 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 totally to drive speedy service provider adoption. It rebranded to Fresha because it expanded into market and funds, finally relocating its headquarters to London because it scaled globally.

That early conviction attracted backing from UAE-based traders 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 throughout the Sequence C led by Normal Atlantic in 2021, and a 52x a number of and over 90% IRR throughout the Sequence 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 client market and a B2B software program platform for magnificence and wellness companies. On the buyer aspect, it lets folks uncover and ebook 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, stock, and monetary providers into one system. The platform monetises by way of fee processing charges, subscription plans launched in 2025, and new consumer reserving commissions relatively than a single flat month-to-month charge.

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 the majority corporations at this valuation stage can not declare.

The corporate has roughly 500 staff and is headquartered in London, with places of work 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 each day,” mentioned William Zeqiri, Founder and CEO. “With KKR’s help, we can additional speed up our international 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 Sequence C led by Tiger World 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 preserving the barrier to entry low for brand spanking new companies becoming a member of the platform.

KKR’s funding got here by way of its Subsequent Technology Expertise Development technique, the identical car it makes use of to again corporations with confirmed enterprise fashions which might be 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 providers, and market capabilities with embedded AI, in a method that’s deeply built-in into every day operations of magnificence and wellness companies,” mentioned Patrick Devine, Accomplice and member of KKR’s Tech Development crew.

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 line with Mordor Intelligence, pushed by post-pandemic wellness spending, the shift from handbook appointment books to cloud-based programs, and the rising integration of AI, embedded funds, and market instruments into salon operations. Fresha holds sturdy 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 way of life apps. And a $1 billion valuation backed by one of many world’s most discerning progress traders. The query now isn’t whether or not Fresha can scale — it already has. The query is how far.