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Glow-up for beauty platform after £2m injection

Press release 22 October 2024

An on-demand beauty marketplace, which allows customers to order a host of beauty services to their desired location, has raised £2m to accelerate its growth in the North West by doubling down on its existing operations in Manchester and Liverpool.

A group of four women stands proudly before a sign stating "More Than Money,"

Ruuby has raised the money in a round led by the NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, which is managed by Praetura as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, who provided £1.5m of the investment.

The company also raised further investment from its existing shareholders, which include notable female angels Michelle Kennedy and Whitney Bromberg Hawkings as well as former Bulgari CEO Francesco Trapani.

Ruuby was founded in 2016 by Forbes 30 under 30 honouree, Venetia Archer, after she spotted a gap in the market for at-home beauty service delivery. Since then, Lancashire-based Ruuby has delivered nearly 500,000 services across multiple groups of treatments, such as hair, nails, massage, waxing, IV drips and cosmetic injectables.

Coming off the heels of a 500 per cent surge in sales post-COVID, the funding will be used to further improve the platform’s efficiency and support the expansion of its service across the North West. This scale-up means that over 200 beauty and wellness professionals will secure jobs through the platform to cater for tens of thousands of customers in the region.

The capital will also boost Ruuby’s business-to-business offering which includes event pop-ups, client hospitality and branded experiences. This growth will build on an already extensive hospitality portfolio including globally renowned hotels in the region such as Hotel Gotham, Stock Exchange, Hyatt and Dakota.

The business now has over 150,000 users, including stars Abbey Clancy, Peter Crouch and Amy Jackson and celebrities such as Victoria Beckham. Ruuby also collaborates with over 3,000 beauty professionals, delivering treatments within 90 minutes across the UK.

In December last year, Ruuby’s Northern practitioners worked with luxury fashion-house Chanel to deliver make-up and hair styling to 25 of their VIPs for their debut Manchester Cruise Show.

Ruuby is also branching out internationally by taking its services to Switzerland, a further step in its mission to deliver top-tier beauty services across Europe.

In a world where you can request food to your door in minutes, or a car to pick you up in seconds, it seemed natural that beauty services should follow.

Our expansion plans in the UK and Europe are a testament to the demand for high-quality, on-the-go beauty services, and we are excited to bring Ruuby's unique offerings to more people and businesses.

- Venetia Archer CEO and founder of Ruuby
With its growing customer base and established partnerships with many local businesses, Ruuby has spotted an untapped opportunity in the North West, which it is looking to capitalise on further. By doubling down on its growth in Manchester and Liverpool, Venetia and her team are poised to create more work for beauty therapists and new opportunities in the region. Above all, we’re delighted to be supporting Ruuby with NPIF II funding and can’t wait to see what the future brings for this growing female-founded business. - Louise Chapman NPIF II fund principal at Praetura Ventures
Ruuby is exactly the kind of business that the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is looking to spur on further in its growth journey. Equity investment is a powerful tool to expand a business, so we are excited to see this round enable the company to meet new business opportunities and help it expand to grow further in the North West. - Simon Cunnington Director at British Business Bank

The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIFII) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.

The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North of England. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North’s smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact mediaenquiries@british-business-bank.co.uk.

Notes to editors

About Praetura Ventures  

Praetura Ventures is a Manchester-based venture capital firm which invests in early-stage, high-growth businesses across the UK, with a particular focus on supporting entrepreneurs across the North of England.         

Praetura Ventures is committed to adding value post-investment and providing the ‘more than money’ support that businesses need to grow, including additional expertise, resources, networks and guidance, to its investee companies.       

Since 2019, Praetura Ventures has backed 45 companies, including North West headquartered businesses Culture Shift, XR Games and Peak. The business has now grown to over £260m AUM and recently won the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II mandate for the £100m fund dedicated to equity in the North West of England.       

Learn more at praeturaventures.com      

About Ruuby

Ruuby is the UK's leading on-demand beauty services platform, delivering a treatment every four minutes. Launched in 2016, Ruuby collaborates with over 2,000 vetted professionals to provide a wide range of beauty services. The platform is dedicated to empowering individuals in the beauty industry and offers professional progression opportunities through its Ruuby Academy.

About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II

  • Operated by the British Business Bank, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) provides a mix of debt and equity funding. NPIF II will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and Growth Hubs, as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support the North’s smaller businesses at all stages of their development. 
  • The funds in which the NPIF II invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, City of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees, South Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland.

For investment by NRIL at the sub-fund level

  • The investment from the Nations and Regions Investments Limited into [.] does not amount to any endorsement or warranty from Nations and Regions Investments Limited, the British Business Bank plc or the government of the United Kingdom. 
     

For investment by NPIF II sub-fund at the investee company level

  • The investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II into [.] does not amount to any endorsement or warranty from Nations and Regions Investments Limited, the British Business Bank plc or the government of the United Kingdom.

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