Kuwait-based startup and beauty services platform, Bookr has raised $1 million in a Seed funding round led by Desert Ventures.

Soft-launched in 2018, Bookr enables users to find and book nearby beauty salons, barbers, and spas, as well as freelance makeup artists and other home beauty service providers. The platform also provides a fully integrated SaaS solution to beauty service providers, facilitating the management of their clients, appointments, inventory, and financial data. 

Since its soft launch, the startup has been operating in 3 GCC countries adopting an organic outreach and low to no budget approach to marketing which seemed to bear fruit for the Bookr team. The Kuwait-based startup has so far processed more than 300,000 bookings through the Bookr app at a value of over $15 million; proactive and adaptive, Bookr has also launched an online store for beauty products during the pandemic. In light of this recent investment, Zaina Al Bader, CEO of Bookr commented “Our exciting fundraise gives us the dry powder needed to scale operations in the GCC and expand our footprint, with the mission of capturing market share and launching new value drivers. Our cloud-based software brings a much-needed solution for many beauty SMEs in the region, and facilitates transparency to their customers in booking availability and pricing.”

Bookr seems to be deeply in touch with its target audience, helping salons and stylers alike to increase their bottom lines, integrating technologies to facilitate pandemic space precautions, and providing on-demand beauty services & products to users. Targeting a fast-growing beauty market globally, the startup plans to utilize its newly acquired funds to scale up its marketing, enhance customer experience and increase its geographic reach, with a focus to expand into the rest of the GCC in the immediate future.

Picking on the key opportunities this investment opens for the Bookr team, Desert Ventures’ Talal Al-Ajeel concluded “Bookr is best positioned for the post-pandemic shift in consumer behavior and expectations in an industry where digital adoption and spending is poised for strong double-digit growth on an annual basis over the next 5 years. Zaina and the team at Bookr are laser-focused on capitalizing on the trend and delivering on their mission of providing a circular ecosystem that is deemed to satisfy.”