Travel experiences platform KKday announced it has raised US$$75 million in a series C funding round led by Cool Japan Fund and Taiwan’s National Development Fund.
Existing investors Monk’s Hill Ventures and MindWorks Capital also participated in the round.
The company plans to use the fresh funds to continue its expansion in Asia and globally, as well as to build out a new solution called Rezio for travel operators and activity providers.
KKday piloted Rezio in March (at the start of the pandemic) in Taiwan and Japan Japan to support tour operators and activity providers in the two countries. The all-in-one platform provides a suite of services including a simple setup for a powerful online store, real-time inventory management across different booking channels, customised vouchers for various booking scenarios and integration with local payment gateways.
All features can also be accessed on any mobile device, which allows travel and experience providers to manage bookings on the go.
KKday said during the Rezio pilot “real-time inventory across a provider’s multiple channels became critical given increased safety measures and crowd limitations during Covid-19.”
In just six months over 300 providers adopted the platform across Taiwan and Japan. Providers include small-scale travel and activity providers to large scale operators such as H.I.S., one of the largest online travel agencies in Japan.
The company plans to build out more functionalities and to roll out the platform to tour operators and activity providers in Asia. As part of its community support KKday will provide access to the Rezio platform to any provider for six months without any subscription fees.
KKday will also continue to expand its team and operations in Japan, Korea, and South-east Asia.
“The pandemic has significantly impacted the travel industry in Asia. We are grateful for our investors who continue to believe in us and in our vision to be the leading travel experiences platform – particularly during this time,” said Chen Ming-ming, founder and CEO of KKday.
“We believe that KKday’s strong execution and innovative mindset will drive the tourism industry in Japan even under adverse conditions,” said Kazushi Sano, managing director of Cool Japan Fund. He expects the company “will leverage a wealth of experience in digitalising the tourism industry and tap into the rise of independent travelling both in Japan and globally.”
Lim Kuo-Yi, co-founder and managing partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures, said: “We expect traveller demand to bounce back quickly when leisure travel opens up again. The human desire to travel, experience and connect is fundamental. We have high conviction in KKday’s leadership team and believe the company is primed to seize the immense opportunity ahead of us.”
“KKday’s closing of this round during a pandemic is a testament of the team’s ability to overcome insurmountable problems. With this funding round and talented leadership, KKday will be in pole position when the travel industry recuperates,” states David Chang, co-founder and managing partner of MindWorks Capital.
Despite the current crisis KKday said it continues to expand with over five million users on its platform, hosting over 30,000 specially curated experiences in over 550 cities. Since May the company has been seeing a surge in demand for local experiences with the opening up of domestic travel in markets including Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
