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The Globo actress Giovanna Antonelli opened a laser hair removal clinic in 2013, and Giovanna Antonelli’s beauty network reached 400 units and about R$ 250 million in revenue, until 13 years later, she sold her share amid a crisis with franchisees.
Few people associate the face of one of the most well-known actresses on Brazilian television with an empire of hair removal clinics. But that is exactly the story of Giovanna Antonelli. The Globo actress not only lent her name to a business, she helped to found a brand that spread across the country and moved hundreds of millions of reais. And, at the peak of this journey, she decided to leave.
According to Mixvale, Giovanna sold her share in the network in 2025, ending a 13-year cycle at the helm of the business. The Giovanna Antonelli beauty network had reached about 400 clinics and revenue of around R$ 250 million. The exit, however, was not a perfect fairy tale: it happened amid a crisis with franchisees that affected the brand’s image. It is a story of business success and turbulence, all in the same package.
From Globo actress to laser hair removal entrepreneur
In that year, Giovanna Antonelli founded Giolaser, a laser hair removal brand with a clear proposal: to make a procedure that was expensive and restricted to a few more affordable and popular. The idea was to democratize access to laser hair removal, and the timing was good because the demand for this type of service exploded in the following years.
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The unique selling point of the Globo actress was obvious and powerful: her own face. Known for high-rating soap operas, Giovanna became the face of the brand, which gave Giolaser an instant credibility that is hard to buy with regular advertising. When a beloved celebrity endorses a business, trust comes along, and it was this image capital that helped Giovanna Antonelli’s aesthetic network to take off.
The investment made sense for both sides. For the Globo actress, it was a chance to build a business legacy beyond her artistic career. For the brand, it was having a national symbol as a showcase. Thus began one of the most talked-about stories of a Brazilian celebrity in the business world, uniting television and laser hair removal in a single project.
How the hair removal franchise reached 400 units
Founding the brand was just the beginning. The scale jump came with the hair removal franchise model, which allows for rapid multiplication of units using the capital of entrepreneurs spread across the country. Instead of opening everything with their own money, Giolaser sold franchises, and each franchisee opened their clinic under the brand’s banner.
This growth gained momentum when businesswoman Carla Sarni, owner of Grupo Salus, joined as a partner. It was under this partnership that the hair removal franchise truly spread, reaching more than 400 units throughout Brazil. The combination of the Globo actress’s face with the expansion machine of an experienced franchise operator accelerated the network at an impressive pace.
In just over a decade, Giovanna Antonelli’s aesthetic network became one of the largest in the sector. The hair removal franchise took the brand’s name to shopping malls and busy streets in dozens of cities, transforming an idea from 2013 into a national presence. The hair removal franchise model, when it works, has exactly this power of capillarity.
R$ 250 million in revenue and the size of the business
The numbers give a sense of what was built. According to Mixvale, the network reached about R$ 250 million in revenue, with the reference linked to the performance of 2023. Other reports work with a slightly lower estimate, around R$ 200 million, but in any scenario, it is a robust business for the standard of the aesthetic sector.
To understand the scale, it’s worth remembering the starting point. It all began with a single laser hair removal clinic in 2013. Thirteen years later, there were 400 units generating hundreds of millions. Few Brazilian celebrities have managed to turn fame into a business of this magnitude, and this is why Giovanna’s business journey draws so much attention.
The revenue also explains why the Giovanna Antonelli’s aesthetic network attracted investor interest. A business that moves this volume and has national reach becomes a natural target for funds seeking consolidated operations to scale even further. And it was precisely such a move that paved the way for the actress’s exit.
The exit in the 13th year and the arrival of a fund
The turnaround began in 2024. The brand underwent a rebranding and changed from being called just Giolaser to GiO Advanced Aesthetics, with a diversification of services beyond laser hair removal and an announced investment of around R$ 50 million. The idea was to transform the hair removal franchise into a broader aesthetic network with more procedures.
In the midst of this restructuring, a new partner joined. The Crescera investment fund became part of the business alongside Grupo Salus, signaling a phase of heavier capital and professionalized management. With the arrival of the fund, the corporate structure changed, and it was in this context that Giovanna Antonelli decided to sell her share.
In 2025, thirteen years after opening the first clinic, the Globo actress officially exited. She sold her stake in the Giovanna Antonelli’s aesthetic network and ended her cycle as a partner in the business she helped create. On paper, it’s the picture of an entrepreneur who built something big and stepped away. In practice, the backdrop was more complicated.
The crisis with franchisees that spices up the story
Here comes the part that doesn’t fit into a simple happy ending. The hair removal franchise faced a serious crisis with some franchisees, which turned into a public and legal dispute. According to Metrópoles, the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office accepted the first complaint against the group at the end of 2024, and it was shortly after this that Giovanna left the partnership.
The accusations, which are unproven and remain in dispute, came from dissatisfied franchisees. Leonardo Torloni, son of actress Christiane Torloni, claims losses exceeding R$ 11 million and argues that the business model was unfeasible. João Paulo da Cruz Britto Filho, grandson of actress Glória Menezes and also a franchisee, states that the franchisor allegedly concealed real operating costs. These are versions from those who felt wronged, and the courts will still decide who is right.
In the process, the franchisees’ defense points out that the image of the Globo actress was used as a central element of credibility to attract people to the business. It is important to clarify: these are ongoing accusations and investigations, not convictions. But the episode shows the other side of associating a famous face with a hair removal franchise, because when the business goes wrong for the franchisee, the celebrity’s name is part of the blame. This is the bitter seasoning of a story that, in numbers alone, would seem perfect.
The burden of lending your name to a business
The case of the aesthetic network of Giovanna Antonelli became a study on the risks of celebrities in franchising. Lending your face to a brand brings money and visibility, but also transfers symbolic responsibility. The public buys trusting the familiar face, and the franchisee invests believing in the weight of that name.
It is not exclusive to her. Several Brazilian celebrities have already associated themselves with hair removal franchise, food, and aesthetic networks, attracted by the promise of passive income and assets. What the Giolaser episode reveals is that fame opens doors, but does not guarantee that the business will succeed for everyone involved. Laser hair removal can be excellent as a service and still generate conflict in the franchise model.
For those dreaming of investing in a celebrity-driven franchise, here’s a warning. The Globo actress built a giant and profitable network, but the presence of a famous name in the brand does not replace the cold analysis of the contract, costs, and real feasibility. The glamour of the showcase and the mathematics of the business are different things, and confusing them is costly.
What remains of her business trajectory
In the final balance, the story is one of light and shadow. On one hand, a Globo actress who had the vision to enter early into an expanding market, founded a brand in 2013, and saw it grow to about 400 units and hundreds of millions in revenue. It is a business achievement that few artists reach, and that is a fact.
On the other hand, the exit came wrapped in a crisis with franchisees and a legal dispute that is not yet over. Giovanna sold her share and moved on, but the aesthetic network of Giovanna Antonelli left traces of conflict that will be resolved in the courts, not in soap operas. Building big and leaving is not the same as leaving without burden, and her story shows this clearly.
Perhaps it is too early to determine if this trajectory enters the gallery of great business successes of Brazilian celebrities or if it becomes a cautionary tale. For now, what we have is a hair removal franchise that was born from a bold idea, grew like few others, and today lives a turbulent chapter, with the founder already on the outside.
And you, do you think it’s worth investing in a franchise just because it has a famous name on the facade, or does this type of story show that fame guarantees nothing when it comes to entrepreneurship? Tell us in the comments what you think about celebrities who become entrepreneurs.
