Booksy

Market position

Described in company and press materials as a leading global appointment booking platform for beauty and wellness, and as the number-one beauty booking app in each of its six markets as of early 2021. It is positioned as a SaaS-enabled marketplace rather than a pure marketplace, and press coverage notes it expanded internationally further than competitors such as Treatwell, StyleSeat, Vagaro and Mindbody, which remained more local to their home countries. Booksy was named to the 2020 Inc. 5000 and the a16z Marketplace 100.

Booksy pairs subscription software for providers with a consumer marketplace, giving it both SaaS revenue characteristics and marketplace network effects and visibility into the full customer and sales journey. Company materials emphasise time savings for providers equivalent to about 12 working days a year, reduced no-shows through automated reminders and cancellation policies, and after-hours booking that increases appointment frequency. Its multi-market footprint and record of acquiring or merging with regional competitors distinguish it from more geographically concentrated rivals.

Technology

Consumer iOS and Android apps for search, instant booking, multibooking, group booking, reminders, reviews and payments, paired with the Booksy Biz and Booksy Biz Pro provider applications for mobile, tablet and web. Provider tooling includes calendar and booking rules, client records, staff and shift management, inventory, gift cards, memberships and packages, point-of-sale and card reader payments, no-show protection, marketing automation, reporting dashboards, and integrations that allow booking through Instagram, Facebook, Google, provider websites and email.

Go-to-market

Providers are onboarded through a self-serve setup flow and free trial covering profile creation, calendar and booking rules, service menus, portfolios and payments, then invite their existing clients and publish booking links across the Booksy app, social media, Google and their own websites. New client demand is generated through the consumer marketplace and the paid Boost lead-generation product. Growth has also come through acquisitions and mergers with regional competitors and through partnerships with L'Oréal, banks, retailers and telecom operators, and, in South Africa, with Professional Beauty South Africa.

Independent and small beauty and wellness businesses — barbershops, hair salons, nail salons, spas, brow and lash studios, hair removal and makeup providers, tattoo shops, massage therapists and physiotherapists — and the consumers who book appointments with them. Adjacent use cases have included personal training sessions, gym equipment booking and nursing home visitation scheduling.

Geography

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Warsaw's Skyliner building; the company was previously described as headquartered in San Francisco at the time of the 2021 Series C. As of January 2021 it operated in six markets — the US (its largest), UK, Poland, Spain, Brazil and South Africa — with Mexico added via the Versum merger. Wikipedia lists countries served as the US, UK, Poland, Spain, France, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa, and notes availability in 25 countries as of 2020. The company website offers regional sites for the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, France, Portugal and Brazil, with listings across US cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami and Mexican cities including Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana.

History

After launching in 2014, Booksy raised PLN 3 million in seed funding in September 2015 at a PLN 20 million valuation; by December 2015 total financing reached PLN 12 million, and by January 2016 the company employed 80 people serving 5,000 salons and more than 20,000 users. A $4.2 million Series A followed in March 2017, when the platform processed 1 million monthly reservations at a stated $35 million valuation with over 100 employees. In July 2018 Booksy closed a $13.2 million Series B (PLN 49.3 million) led by Piton Capital with participation including Sebastian Kulczyk's Manta Ray Ventures, and in the same month acquired Polish competitor Lavito (400,000 users, 2,500 salons), taking the combined entity to 2.5 million monthly appointments. In 2019 the company partnered with L'Oréal, integrating roughly 900 expert salons in Poland, and in September 2019 raised $28.5 million (PLN 115 million) at a reported $710 million valuation.

During 2020 Booksy partnered with banks including BNP Paribas, Alior Bank and Crédit Agricole, electronics retailer X-Kom and telecom provider Play, and acquired US competitor GoPanache in August 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic cut revenue by as much as 70% in some markets in March 2020 and forced headcount down from 350 to 180, but demand rebounded, with June through August 2020 the most profitable months to that date and 500,000 reservation requests received in the 24 hours after salon reopening announcements on 13 May 2020. In December 2020 Booksy merged with Polish competitor Versum (operator of Moment.pl), whose founders Sebastian Maśka and Paweł Kantyka joined the management team, creating an entity with 13 million active consumers and 500 employees and opening the Mexican market. In January 2021 the company announced a $70 million Series C.

Risks & controversies

The business is exposed to disruption in the in-person beauty and wellness sector: during the COVID-19 pandemic Booksy reported revenue declines of up to 70% in some markets in March 2020 and cut headcount from 350 to 180 employees before demand recovered. The company competes in a crowded appointment-booking market alongside Treatwell, StyleSeat, Vagaro and Mindbody, and its growth strategy depends in part on integrating acquired and merged businesses such as Lavito, GoPanache and Versum.