Appacut, described as Uber for barbers, has completed a £600k fundraise as it seeks to grow its service beyond Manchester.
The mobile barbering service is being backed by a number of North West investors, including Steve Oliver, the co-founder and CEO of musicMagpie – he joins the business as Non-Executive Chair.
“I am delighted to be involved with this new disruptive service with huge ambitions to transform the barbering industry away from the high street and bring a Deliveroo type convenience to customers who want a haircut when, where and by whom they like,” said Oliver, who in 2021 led musicMagpie to a £200m valuation plus IPO.
“In this day and age of consumers demanding a trusted, fast and convenient way to buy their day-to-day purchases, whether that be groceries, fast-food or other products, it is no surprise to me that a new service that avoids an arduous, time-wasting and sometimes frustrating regular trip to the barbers is proving to be so popular.”
Appacut was established in 2023, allowing people to choose a barber of their choice at a time, date and location that suits them. With 300 barbers listed on the site, it has effectively become the UK’s biggest barber chain – without owning a single shop.
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Its clients include Ruud Van Nistelrooy, and Liverpool coach, John Heitinga.
“Having developed a world-class platform product to operate the service on for both prospective barbers and consumers, we are truly excited to have successfully raised such substantial investment funds from such a high-profile group of investors,” explained Appacut’s CEO, Michael Lawes.
“This will allow us to now rapidly expand the scope and geography of services offered, having spent the last year successfully proving the concept of the service.”
The cash will be used to start expanding nationally, with an emphasis on “high-density populations of residential towers” such as those operated by Renaker, Ila and Moda.
“From the beginning of working on Appacut, it was obvious that this product had huge potential to scale both in its geographical areas for barbering services, but also in other consumer domestic beauty and personal services that we can potentially take to the home in the future,” added Jordan Madeley, Appacut’s CTO.
“We have already welcomed our first female stylists to the platform and are well advanced in being able to offer a range of other consumer services to people’s doorsteps in the near future.”
