Calendly vs Fresha

2022. Calendly acquires Prelude to drive into the recruitment sector



Calendly has gained recognition for its tools, which are utilized by over 10 million individuals to schedule appointments, coordinate meetings, and plan events involving multiple participants. While competing with industry behemoths like Google and Microsoft, who strive to become the primary platforms for both work and leisure planning, Calendly is now taking steps to accelerate its own progress. The company recently completed the acquisition of Prelude, a specialist in automating scheduling and organization related to job recruitment. This move demonstrates Calendly's focus and strategic direction, as it aims to develop more specialized products tailored to specific industries, starting with HR. This marks a departure for Calendly, as it initially established itself as a scheduling powerhouse by offering a versatile toolkit accessible to all individuals, irrespective of their needs.


2021. Fresha, a business platform for salons, spas and beauty and wellness pros, extends Series C by $52.5M



Fresha, a company that offers a comprehensive software suite to assist salons in managing their business operations, has recently secured $52.5 million in funding. Fresha initially gained recognition among its 60,000 customers for its subscription-free booking software. Instead of charging a subscription fee, Fresha generates revenue by taking a percentage of payments or through first-time bookings and marketing messages (if opted for by the customer). Today, Fresha's suite of tools encompasses booking and point-of-sale payment software. These tools are utilized in approximately 120 countries, with the largest markets being the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Fresha witnesses tens of millions of appointments booked on its platform every month and has processed a total of $15 billion in transactions to date.


2021. Fresha raises $100M for its beauty and wellness booking platform and marketplace



Fresha, a versatile commerce tool designed for independent wellness and beauty businesses such as hair salons, nail salons, skin salons, yoga instructors, and more, has secured $100 million in funding. At its core, Fresha offers a completely free subscription platform that enables these businesses to efficiently manage customer bookings. Alongside this, Fresha provides a range of services including a free appointment booking platform, software for account management, a payments service encompassing both physical point of sale and digital interfaces, and a marketplace catering to both business-to-business (B2B) transactions for supplying goods to businesses and business-to-customer (B2C) transactions for businesses to sell goods to customers.