GoEuro, the leading booking platform for transport across Europe, has raised $150 million in one of the largest-ever investment rounds in Germany, doubling the company’s total capital raised to date. The company plans to use the funds to advance its vision of unifying transport globally by accelerating product innovation and expanding into new markets, facilitating more convenient travel booking across the world.
Kinnevik AB, a Swedish investment firm, and Temasek, an investment company headquartered in Singapore, led the round, with participation from Hillhouse Capital, a leading investment firm focused on long-term growth through innovation.
Cristina Stenbeck, main shareholder of Kinnevik and a member of the boards of Kinnevik and Spotify, will join GoEuro’s board of directors as part of the transaction. Until 2016, Cristina served as both Executive Chairman of Kinnevik and Chairman of Zalando.
Naren Shaam, CEO and Founder of GoEuro, said:
“The investment by these outstanding firms is a testament to our team’s hard work to build the leading booking platform for transport in Europe and a recognition of the tremendous growth opportunities we see ahead. Having Kinnevik, Temasek and Hillhouse as investors complements our vision for driving growth across our business, as we help people around the world book their travel more easily and quickly.
“Over the past five years, we’ve brought most European transportation onto our platform, creating a simple, consistent and familiar experience for our customers. We see extraordinary potential to transform travel booking by expanding our platform to the fragmented, mostly offline systems for managing transport globally. Through this investment, we will enhance our customers’ experience by adding new geographies and modes of transport, and more people to our fantastic team to join us on this exciting journey.
“We are especially pleased that Cristina will join GoEuro’s board. Cristina’s expertise in consumer-facing brands will be an invaluable addition as we grow our business.”
Launched five years ago as a metasearch engine, GoEuro today operates the leading multi-modal transport booking platform in Europe, making direct sales on its platform for 80% of its transport providers.
Since its last fundraise in October 2016, GoEuro has scaled substantially across many fronts. GoEuro now offers ground and air travel options in 36 countries across Europe and full coverage in 15 of those markets, and more than 27 million people use GoEuro each month, three quarters of whom use mobile devices to access the platform. Additionally, GoEuro recently completed its first acquisition, of European transport aggregator BusRadar, based in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Cristina Stenbeck, Board Director of GoEuro, said:
“I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for Naren and GoEuro’s drive to redefine travel booking for the future. Kinnevik’s management and Board share my excitement about the large addressable market that GoEuro has pursued since its inception, and the considerable runway for growth ahead. GoEuro has been a pioneering force in addressing, disrupting and improving end-to-end travel. We look forward to helping Naren and his team continue to build a world-class business.”
Lei Zhang, Founder and Chairman of Hillhouse Capital, said:
“We are impressed with what Naren and his team have accomplished in Europe. We are excited to support GoEuro to bring its best-in-class multi-modal transport booking platform to Asia and the rest of the world.”
About GoEuro:
GoEuro is a travel platform that allows customers to find and book trains, buses and flights across Europe. Partnering with over 800 European transport operators, GoEuro is revolutionising the travel planning experience, providing customers with more choice, transparent pricing and easier booking.
GoEuro lets travellers search for any location, including cities, towns and villages, showing the best possible transport combinations while eliminating the need to visit multiple websites to plan an entire trip. With GoEuro, travel planning is simple, flexible and personal.
The travel startup is headquartered in Berlin with over 300 employees from more than 45 different countries. The last funding round totalling $70 million, led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, was announced in October 2016.
For more information on the markets in which GoEuro operates, see: www.goeuro.com
SOURCE GoEuro
Related Links
http://www.goeuro.com