Next gen corporate travel specialist Travelperk raises £15 million in series B funding

Corporate travel booking start-up TravelPerk has secured £15 million in series B funding. Continue reading →

Corporate travel booking start-up TravelPerk has secured £15 million in series B funding.

The firm, which claims to be Europe’s fastest-growing Service as a Software (SaaS) start-up, has brought in new backers alongside original investor LocalGlobe.

The Series B round was led by Berlin-based Target Global and London’s Felix Capital.

Earlier investors Spark Capital and Sunstone also participated in the round, alongside new global player Amplo.

Founded in 2015 by chief executive Avi Meir and chief product officer Javier Suarez, TravelPerk describes itself as a next-generation corporate travel firm in a sector worth $1.25 trillion globally.

The Barcelona-based firm said surging demand has seen it ranked the fastest-growing SaaS company in Europe and the fourth fastest-growing globally on the SaaS 1,000 list.

Headcount has increased from 20 to around 100 over the past year while revenue has increased at a rate of 1,200% year-on-year.

It now has 1,000 customers including Typeform, TransferWise, Outfittery, GetYourGuide, GoCardless, Hotjar, and CityJet.

Meir, who sold his previous company to booking.com, said: “Almost everyone you speak to, who has traveled for work, has personal experience of how painful business travel can be.

“Until now, businesses had to choose between two bad options: either antiquated enterprise solutions or an alphabet soup of ad hoc consumer tools. We went back to first principles instead to design the world’s best experience for travellers, business administrators and finance managers, alike.

“Between them, our investors have backed some of the most disruptive companies in tech including Slack, Trello, Twitter, Farfetch, Deliveroo and Delivery Hero.  They recognise the same potential with TravelPerk, only in a far bigger market.”

Antoine Nussenbaum, partner at Felix Capital, added: “The corporate travel industry is one of the largest global markets yet to be disrupted online.

“At Felix Capital we have a high conviction about a new era of consumerization of enterprise software. With a seasoned and highly ambitious management team combining all the skills required to build both a top class tech stack and a smooth consumer experience for travelers through personalisation and mobile, TravelPerk are ideally positioned to be the global leaders in the space.”

The Series B investment brings the total raised by TravelPerk to $30 million. Funds will be used to scale the business.

The company said it will add software engineers, product owners, sales reps and customer support to its team, which is set to double to around 200 people, as well as expand globally with offices in three to five new countries by 2019.

Target Global General Partner Shmuel Chafets said: “TravelPerk is very well positioned to be a market leader in the business travel space with a product that makes business travel as seamless and easy as personal travel, thereby winning a highly fragmented trillion dollar market – a key investment thesis of Target Global.

“We’re excited to support such an experienced and dedicated team that has a strong track record in the travel space. TravelPerk is our first investment in Barcelona. We believe in a pan-European startup ecosystem and we look forward to seeing more opportunities in this emerging startup hub.”

TravelPerk is free to use and allows clients to search flights and hotels, book and pay for them manage itineraries, receive instant invoices, have full control of their travel preferences and loyalty programs, automate their travel policy, access their travel data and access 24/7, multilingual support.

It claims to have built the “world’s largest bookable inventory” by integrating with hotels, airlines, and rail companies and also all major leisure travel sites including Booking.com, Expedia, Skyscanner and Airbnb.

By offering free customer support, and taking no client commissions, the company says it saves its customers over 20% in annual business travel costs compared to legacy corporate tools and travel agents.