UAE’s MEVP Announces Partial Exit from Beauty Platform Fresha

UAE-based venture capital firm, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), has announced a partial exit from its investment in the beauty and wellness software platform, Fresha, with a secondary sale in the company’s $100M Series C round.

William Zeqiri, Fresha Founder and CEO, commented saying “we’re thankful for MEVP’s continued support which stretches back to the early days of Fresha. The firm’s sizable return from their recent exit shows that their strong belief in the company from the outset, paired with a founder friendly ethos, was a winning approach.”

Fresha’s platform allows consumers to find, book, and pay for beauty and wellness appointments with local businesses. At the same time, local salons, spas, and barbershops can use Fresha to manage their operations with its built-in business software. Fresha’s platform streamlines and simplifies the online booking process and payments, as well as manages customer records by automating marketing, staffing accounting, and product inventory.

Walid Hanna, the CEO of MEVP, was confident about the company’s future, saying: “We participated in the secondary sale at the request of the lead investor to support the company in its Series C; we believe the team at Fresha will continue to deliver on a massive growth potential to reach ‘unicorn’ status, especially with the support of reputable investors like General Atlantic.”

In 2015, MEVP became Fresha’s first institutional investor with seed financing, as well as by leading a $6 million Series A round in the company two years later. In 2019, Fresh raised a $20 million Series B round led by French investment platform, Partech, and with participation from Berlin-based venture capital firm, Target, as well as Dubai’s BECO Capital. This was followed by a Series C round of $100M led by New York-based General Atlantic in June 2021.