wahanda, a leading platform in Europe in booking beauty servicesannounces the closing of a new one for 65 million euros and the purchase of ZenSoon, one in .
The 65 million euros come from the Japanese Recruit Holdings, which now owns 80% of the company. Although Recruit runs a similar platform in Japan, Wahanda operates independently. «I think it’s important for Recruit to protect Wahanda’s independence, said the CEO of the company Lopo Champalimaud.
Wahanda follows the strategy of Groupon or Just Eat
Wahanda that counts in its ranks with the former CEO of Just-Eat as its president, has been following a very typical model in e-commerce both in Europe and elsewhere, run by companies like and . To achieve better economies of scale for its platforms and continue to grow, companies buy their rivals instead of starting in new markets from scratch and competing with similar players.
Wahanda has 20,000 salons
The acquisition of ZenSoon comes just two weeks after Wahanda bought the Dutch competitor treatwelll for 38 million dollars. This is Wahanda’s fifth acquisition to date and raises the total number of salons in the company to 20,000.
Champalimaud estimates that el 95% of hair and beauty salons in Europe are single-owner «so it is a very fragmented and local market.» For them, Wahanda offers complete salon management software, usually free of charge, generating revenue from bookings. While the commission is 20%, in the rest of Europe the commission is 15%.
The US in the company’s sights
While Wahanda wants to continue growing in Europe, also plans to expand in the US signaling that an acquisition is likely next year.
“Our ambitions are definitely global. We have an opportunity to establish a global business and that is our goal”, Champalimaud says in made to Techcrunch “We still have a lot of consolidation work to do in Europe”
200% growth since launch
Wahanda was launched in 2009 by Lopo Champalimaud, who had previously worked for the giant Lastminute.
The company plans to close the year with a turnover of 40 million pounds, showing a growth of 200% since launch. Wahanda currently employs 225 people, mainly in London, Berlin and Lithuania.
«We are already the largest marketplace for booking beauty services in Europe. North America and South America will be the next target. I can’t think of a market that doesn’t need a service like Wahanda offers.”he pointed Champalimaud.
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