Last week, Chicago based Booksy announced that it had raised a large Series B2 round ($28.5 million) from existing and new investors. The company is the largest mobile marketplace for appointment-driven beauty services in the country.
In short, Booksy is focused on disrupting the beauty booking market. Beauty services are a $90 billion market in the U.S. However, the market is extremely fractured with less than 5% of beauty services booked online. Booksy hopes to change that by making the process of booking simpler and more efficient for users.
It seems to be working. The company has consistently ranked as one of the top lifestyle apps on iOS and Android; has more active daily users than any other app in the beauty category; and, has more users than many other lifestyle apps that have broader application, including Houzz, OpenTable, and TaskRabbit.
One way that Booksy is changing the booking industry is through its integrations with many popular applications. Rather than simply boasting a stand alone app, Booksy partners with Facebook, Google, Instagram, and Yelp creating a seamless booking experience directly on their platforms.
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We decided to do a quick interview with the company’s CEO and co-founder, Stefan Batory. When asked why he formed Booksy, Mr. Batory stated: “Booksy was born out of my own personal frustration booking appointments with my massage therapist. I had recently started running long distance, but I needed some help easing my sore muscles. At the time, I had a full-time job and two young children, so no free time. And trying to book a massage was a never-ending game of phone tag. And, I was still sore from running 20+ miles! I realized that there had to be a better way and together with co-founder Konrad Howard, we developed Booksy.”
Since its inception in 2013, Booksy has raised more than $48 million in venture capital and now employs more than 200 people around the country – including offices in Chicago and San Francisco. The company has really focused on making the mobile experience better than existing tools and has attempted to streamline the toolset to be more mobile friendly. Batory stated: “We believe our simplicity of in design and ease of use really sets us apart from other players in the market. We have all the tools a fully-featured salon management suite needs, but it is simple and intuitive to use for both salons and independent contractors to help grow and manager their business.”
One of the investors in this round, Zach Coelius, founder of Triggit, reiterated the importance of this approach: “Innovation in technology comes from the edges. While online booking for beauty services is a deceptively simple concept, no company has yet been able to create a successful marketplace for these providers, until now. There are more than 4 million beauty professionals in the U.S. alone, and many are independent owners who will directly benefit from a solution that takes care of the business minutiae for them. I believe Booksy is well-poised to become the world’s largest destination marketplace for all appointment-based businesses.”
However, despite having a leading, powerful platform, Booksy faces a number of hurdles. “Execution is critical,” says Batory. “We are focused on scaling the operation, hiring, and making sure that we are hitting every one of the goals we set for the next year. If we are successful, in the next 12 months, I believe that we will lock-in the appointment-based booking market.” That success is based on Booksy’s ability to mobilize beauty professionals to offer their booking application. This is a critical leap for tools that seek both user and provider engagement.
More specifically, being a leader in the booking space means that Booksy must be aligned with small businesses. At its heart booking for beauty professionals is empowering people to grow small businesses more efficiently. As Batory stated, “Small business owners are the backbone of our economy, and our goal is to support their ability to run and grow their business by taking out the pain points related to scheduling. Our success is directly tied to the success of the amazing artists and beauty service merchants on our platform. Our mission is to connect consumers with these great service providers, so that discovery and scheduling can be done effortlessly, anywhere, anytime.”
Booksy’s round was led by investors from around the globe, including existing investors Piton Capital, Enern, and others; and, new investors, Industry Ventures and XG Ventures. The financing also included participation from individual investors, including Zach Coelius (founder of Triggit), Kai Hansen (Booksy board member), Chris Guzowski, Hannes Graah (vice president of growth, Revolut; former global head of new markets, Spotify), Piotr Jakubowski and Rohan Monga (former CMO and COO of Go-Jek, respectively). The company has raised $48.7 million in funding to date.
To find out more about Booksy and their quest to make booking via mobile tools easier and more efficient, check out their website at: www.Booksy.com.
