Gomalon buys bookmyspa.in for $1.8M to up wellness play

Bangalore-based Gomalon Technology Ventures Pvt Ltd, which runs listing platform for wellness services Gomalon, has acquired spa booking service bookmyspa.in for about Rs 12 crore ($1.8 million).

The news was first reported by The Economic Times.

Anil Kumar, Gomalon founder, confirmed the development.

"The buyout has made Gomalon the largest appointment booking platform in Bangalore with over 2,000 vendors," Kumar said. He added that the two entities will be merged after the deal is closed.

As part of the transaction, bookymyspa.in founder Sriharsha BK would join Gomalon as product management head. The Economic Times news report suggested that bookmyspa.in will continue to take bookings for the next six months.

Kumar founded Gomalon in February as a discovery and booking platform for wellness centres. It is currently operational in Bangalore where it lists over 270 services across 12 categories. Sanjay Ramakrishnan (former head of marketing at Myntra) and Sudarsan Rao (founder of venture advisory firm Iyara Ventures) are advisors to Gomalon.

Prior to starting Gomalon, Kumar was Bangalore sales head at AIG Global Investment Group. He has also worked with Sundaram BNP Paribas AMC.

"Our target is to cover all metros in the next 12 months. We will also expand internationally over the next five years," Kumar said.

The two-year old bookmyspa.in has operations in Bangalore and Hyderabad. According to the details available on its website, the startup also had plans to launch in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

The combined entity would compete with the likes of BeautyBooked, Ziffi, Vyomo, Purplle, ManageMySpa and other online ventures.

Investor Interest

India's beauty and wellness (B&W) industry has seen a lot of investor action. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimates the country's B&W sector to be worth Rs 1 lakh crore this year. Several online players that facilitate listings, discovery and booking of wellness services, have raised external capital

Bangalore-based Vyomo Pte. Ltd., which runs a beauty and wellness platform, had raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding led by TaxiForSure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna in June.

In January, Mumbai-based Manash Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, the company behind Purplle.com, secured an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from early-to-growth stage VC firm IvyCap Ventures.

Mumbai-based DocSuggest Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd, the company behind Ziffi.com, an online booking platform for beauty salons, doctors and health tests, is in advanced stage of talks to raise its Series B round of funding