(Bloomberg) —
European travel management startup TravelPerk has raised $115 million to expand its business working with small and medium enterprises as corporate travel bounces back.
The funding round was led by new investor General Catalyst Partners and previous backer Kinnevik AB at a $1.3 billion valuation, taking the total amount raised by the company to $409 million, a TravelPerk spokesman said. Gillian Tans, former chief executive officer of Booking.com, and General Catalyst Managing Director Joel Cutler will join the board.
Revenue has surpassed pre-pandemic levels as measures to contain the pandemic ease, with smaller firms resuming travel more quickly than larger companies, Chief Executive Officer Avi Meir said in an interview. Big corporates may be slower to return because they’re more complex, he said.
“We’re definitely out of the pandemic,” Meir said.
The company didn’t lay off employees even as sales evaporated when lockdowns took hold, so TravelPerk has been able to move quickly as soon as demand revived because it didn’t need to rehire its sales force, he said.
Founded in 2015 and based in Barcelona and London, the company will use the funds to expand solutions for sustainable travel and help business teams plan in-person meetings, according to a statement Wednesday. They’ll also be used to expand in key markets, including the U.S. and Europe.
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