Freauty: online beauty marketplace acquired by Urban Massage

A leading European on-demand massage brand has acquired Freauty, an online beauty and wellness marketplace.

The acquisition, which comes alongside an expansion of the corporate team, will help cater to more businesses looking to offer wellbeing perks to their staff, explains Urban Massage.

As part of the sale, the massage company will take on Freauty’s corporate clients which are multinational companies from the banking, legal, marketing and consultancy industries.

Who and what are the companies?

Founded in 2014 as an on-demand app to link consumers up with massage therapists, Urban Massage is currently available in five cities across Europe London, Manchester, Birmingham, Paris and Vienna and is backed by some of London's leading VC firms.

Freauty is a dedicated marketplace for beauty and wellness professionals, enabling customers to find and book professionals near them. In the acquisition, Urban Massage looks set to broaden its offering considerably within the beauty and personal care space.

The Freauty group owns CitySwish and Zeebba, which deliver high-end beauty, massage, hair and makeup services to customers at their home, office or hotel.

Consolidation of offerings

Jack Tang, CEO, Urban Massage, says “We’re always looking to work with like-minded brands to help people include wellness rituals – like massage – into their busy urban lifestyles.

“Freauty have already created great traction in the space and we’re excited to expand our corporate relationships with this acquisition.”

Kit Chong, CEO, Freauty, says “Over the past two years we have been leading some of our own acquisitions and growing our home and corporate client bases.

“I’m delighted to be on the other end of the acquisition and look forward to helping Urban Massage to expand their global business.”

Orlando Agrippa, Freaty’s lead investor at Freauty explained the consolidation will help the reach of the beauty market platform: “We have seen some of the largest sets of strategic partnerships and consolidation in the market in the last 12 months.

“Where like-minded firms are getting together to really deliver stronger customer value and services and this is no exception.

“We are truly delighted to not only provide shareholder returns but to also ensure a fully joined up B2B offering with Jack and his team.”