EatNow founders Matt Dyer and Nathan Airey, recently announced their next million dollar venture BookwellBookwell, the Menulog for beauty and wellness, that will bring greater convenience and booking ease to the beauty and wellness sector, by launching in Australia with a $2.6M round of seed funding.
The first in its category, Bookwell aims to address an untapped gap in the $10 billion health, beauty and wellness market in Australia, by allowing beauty and wellness service providers to reach new customers and ensure optimal utilisation of staff by filling empty appointments. For customers, it offers convenience by locating and booking local beauty salons and wellness services instantly through an easy to use platform.
“We are excited to be entering another billion dollar market that’s untapped in Australia. Over the past decade startups have been disrupting the hospitality industry by creating new tech to connect with customers, quickly. Bookwell is one of the first in its category to do the same for the beauty and wellness sector that currently has over 400,000 people working in beauty alone,” comments Matt Dyer, General Manager, Bookwell.
What has Bokwell achieved so far?
Bookwell launches into Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, with 750 bookable venues nationally and has already shown 20% month on month growth in its pilot stage, which is expected to experientially grow following launch.
“Salons and therapists spend thousands each year on marketing to fill empty appointments and to drive new customer acquisitions. Bookwell is the first one-stop platform with venues, reviews and different services for customers that will instantly boost profits across categories including hair, tanning, massage, nails and waxing. We are using a similar business model to the hugely successful EatNow that easily translates to the beauty market,” continues Mr Dyer.
Founded in 2010, EatNow was successfully merged with Menulog in 2015 to form Menulog Group. Menulog Group was then sold to JustEat in 2015 for $855 million. Following the duo’s success in startups and on-demand marketplaces, the Eat Now founders have raised a substantial $2.6 million investment from Adam Schwab, CEO of the Lux Group, and a series of private investors, to take Bookwell into its initial build stage.
“Our main focus over the next six months will be to grow our network both geographically and by way of supplier listings. 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.” finishes Matt Dyer.
