Berlin-based GetYourGuide will ramp up its efforts to add new markets and broader inventory thanks to a huge new funding round – $484 million – announced today.
The Series E round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund and joined by co-investors Temasek, Lakestar and Heartcore Capital, with continued support from existing investors including Swisscanto Invest.
“This funding allows us to take a much longer-term view on the travel experiences space. … Now we can have a 10- to 20-year time horizon,” says GetYourGuide co-founder and CEO Johannes Reck.
Reck says some of the company’s immediate priorities include aggressive expansion into the Americas and Asia, taking what has been learned from the company’s growth throughout Europe to gain a foothold in these markets.
When asked whether Asia will be a challenge due to the presence of Klook – interestingly also funded by Softbank Vision Fund with a $225 million D+ investment in April – Reck says, “Klook has a very different geographic footprint in terms of source markets and in terms of inventory and a very different customer acquisition strategy. So while broadly in the same space, we are not directly competing at all.”
More importantly, Reck says, he doesn’t see it as “zero-sum game,” so any brands driving awareness of booking tours and activities online is a benefit to all.
Product development
Along with geographic expansion, GetYourGuide will use the new capital to continue developing its “GetYourGuide Originals” product that launched in August 2018 in Rome, Paris and London. The program offers branded experiences GetYourGuide has developed in partnership with its top tour operators.
Reck says to date more than 30,000 Originals tickets have been sold, and now they will begin rolling out the program to 25 major metropolitan cities around the world.
GetYourGuide will also look to expand the breadth of its offerings.
“We have a strong position in attraction tickets, museums and sightseeing tours, and we recently ramped up in day trips as well,” Reck says.
“But there’s still so much we can do from traditional transportation and ground transportation – which we haven’t covered at all – to even restaurants and culinary experiences, to outdoor and adventure, to music shows and events. The list goes on and on.”
GetYourGuide currently has staff in 18 offices around the world – its newest office is in Japan – and Reck says the company will open new locations in the next couple of years.
As part of the investment, SoftBank Investment Advisers partner Ted Fike will join the GetYourGuide board of directors.
Fike says, “Consumers, especially millennials, are spending an increasing portion of their disposable income on travel experiences. We believe GetYourGuide is leading this seismic shift by consolidating the fragmented global supply base of tour operators and modernizing access for travelers globally.”
GetYourGuide has also added two executives to its staff: Ameet Randive as its first chief product officer and Nils Chrestin as chief financial officer.
Launched in 2009, GetYourGuide’s last funding came in a $75 million Series D round in November 2017, bringing its total to date to $654 million. The company says it has sold more than 25 million tickets for tours and activities through its platform.
Source: PhocusWire
Feature image credit: Getty Images
