SoMo’s parent company makes first equity investment
Social Money – the parent company of SoMo – has made its first equity investment in another business, an aesthetics app called Faces Consent.
Social Money, which owns peer-to-peer lending platform SoMo and buy-now-pay-later finance firm Payl8r, has made a £500,000 investment in start-up aesthetics app Faces Consent in return for a 10 per cent share in the business.
On 28 March, Social Money said that Payl8r was becoming a lending partner on Faces Consent’s app and this partnership is expected to generate £24m in revenue to Payl8r.
Social Money said during these negotiations it “recognised a wider potential within the business”.
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“Faces Consent is an impressive tech start-up within the rapid-growingly aesthetics industry,” said Louis Alexander (pictured), owner and director of Social Money.
“I was impressed by its business model and growth potential. We can add real value through our expertise across finance, technology and retail, alongside our half a million-pound investment.
“This is the first time that we’ve invested outside of our business. It’s not something we were actively seeking to do, but when an opportunity as strong as this comes along, you have to take it.”
Faces Consent has more than 45,000 registered users on its free app and a valuation of £5m. It currently sees an average of £20,000 of pharmaceutical sales every day as practitioners purchase products such as fillers directly within the app.
The team predict this figure to rise and have plans to expand their product range.
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“We hit it off with the team at Social Money straight away,” said Ben O’Brien, co-founder and managing director of Faces Consent.
“There is so much value they can add alongside their financial investment. Their expertise across finance and technology makes them a great partner to help us fulfil our ambitious growth plans.”