Barcelona based travel management platform TravelPerk announced on Tuesday Jan 23, 2024, that it secured over $100M in Funding led by Softbank Vision Fund to expand its platform.
The round saw participation from existing investors, including Kinnevik and Felix Capital. It is an extension of the Series D-1 raised in January 2022, led by General Catalyst.
Stephen Thorne, Investment Director for SoftBank Investment Advisers will join the TravelPerk Board of Directors.
Commenting on the announcement, Avi Meir, CEO and Co-Founder of TravelPerk said that his team has a clear focus : “building the number 1 SaaS business travel platform for SMB and Mid-Tier companies in Europe and the US.”
He expressed his joy that SoftBank has backed their vision, and that the existing investors continue to support their approach to long-term growth.
“This latest investment comes during a time when the winning tech companies are separating from the pack, and it further validates our investors’ commitment to our vision and strategy.” he added.
TravelPerk provides an executive travel inventory, to help companies select accommodation, transport and book trips for their team members with ease.
According to Stephen Thorne, the Investment Director for SoftBank Investment Advisers within the enormous global business travel market, SMBs have remained a largely underserved segment.
He commends TravelPerk to be innovative by integrating AI across the product stack to deliver a world-class experience for customers and travellers.
“We are excited to partner with TravelPerk and support the next stage of growth.” He added
TravelPerk boasts a powerful travel management platform which enables companies and organizations worldwide like Revolut, Wise, Redbull, GetYourGuide and Aesop to get the most out of their travel.
With currently over 1200 employees, TravelPerk plans to grow its workforce as it scale across the US and Europe.
According to Akhil Chainwala the Investment Director at Kinnevik, the TravelPerk team has continued to deliver on their ambitious plans, irrespective of an ever-changing external environment.
Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the company has achieved a ten-fold increase in volumes and rapidly innovated on product, resulting in improved customer experience and a doubling of monetisation.
“Most recently, we have been excited to see significant automation efficiencies set a scalable foundation for future growth.” he noted
Akhil Chainwala hailed Avi’s leadership, who has set the tone for a strong and authentic company culture.
“We look forward to the next phase of responsible acceleration that this latest investment will unlock.”
It shall be noted that the investment values the company at $1.4 billion and comes as it reported that business travel for UK-based companies, both domestic and international, was up by 75% in 2023 over the previous year.
