Lopo Champalimaud

Lopo is the former Founder and CEO of Treatwell, the largest hair and beauty booking service in the world. The company, headquartered in London, has over 20 million appointments made through its online bookings platform annually, employs 500+ people and has over 25,000 spas and salons using its service.

Lopo was born in Lisbon and raised in Montreal where he studied at McGill University. He began his career in banking and private equity with Pictet & Cie and Wand Partners, but the rise of the consumer Internet in the early 1990’s drew him to the world of entrepreneurship. Starting with a deep belief that the Internet revolution would be built on a foundation of data, he co-founded the world’s first online market research company, Cyber Dialogue, in New York in 1994. This was followed by the creation of Fulcrum Analytics which was one of the first online CRM companies focused on helping marketers collect, manage and analyse internet customer data. Having exited Fulcrum in 2004, Lopo changed his focus to the B2C market and became the MD of Lifestyle at lastminute.com.

It was while working at lastminute.com, that Lopo realised the potential for digital disruption in the €100bn hair and beauty industry. He believed that by providing a world-class cloud-based management software for salons and connecting it to a convenient consumer marketplace, he could help businesses grow while also making it easier for customers to find and book their beauty appointments. In 2008 he founded the company, then called Wahanda, to do just that.

During his time as CEO, Lopo steered the company through a major European expansion campaign that included five acquisitions, resulting in a company rebrand and changing its name from Wahanda to Treatwell. It now has a market leading position in 11 countries and 31 cities across Europe. In 2015, Japan’s Recruit Holdings invested over €292 million, taking a majority stake in the company helping to fund the ongoing expansion of the business into a global brand.