Less than eight months after its official launch, Australian beauty and wellness booking platform Bookwell has secured another $1.25 million in funding.
The investment, led by Gabby and Hezi Leibovich (the founders of Catch Group), follows the $2.6m seed funding the company received from Jeremy Same and Adam Schwab (the founders of Luxury Escapes) in September.
Bookwell co-founder Matt Dyer says the funding, which also follows its recent purchase of key competitor, Vaniday Australia, will enable the business to cement its position as the go-to destination for online beauty and wellness bookings in Australia.
“It validates our perception that there is a need for the Bookwell booking platform in the Australian market,” he says.
“Australians spend more than $10 billion a year on the services we are targeting, so there’s huge scope for growth.”
Launched in September after being piloted for almost a year by EatNow founder Matt Dyer and Nathan Airey, Bookwell aims “to address an untapped gap in the health, beauty and wellness market in Australia by allowing beauty and wellness service providers to reach new customers and fill empty appointments”.
The site currently connects consumers with more than 1000 beauty salons and wellness professionals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Gold Coast offering a wide range of services including skin, nail, massage, hair, tanning, waxing and laser treatments as well as fitness and alternative therapies.
According to Nathan, the company’s revenue has grown by more than 450 percent in the last 12 months – and is set to turnover $20 million in 2019.
“With most salons only open certain hours to take bookings and customers frustrated calling different venues to book treatments, we look forward to becoming the market leader in providing a quick and easy way to book beauty and wellness appointments all over Australia.”
He says that the main benefits for salons on the site are: increased revenue (access to new clients and more bookings), calendar software, 24/7 online bookings, fewer no-shows (automated SMS and email reminders), client management system and “seamless” online payments.