SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) 2 led the investment round, with Felix Capital and Kinnevik also participating. It’s an expansion of the $160 million Series D investment that Greyhound Capital led in April 2021.
CEO and cofounder Avi Meir tells Sifted that he anticipates TravelPerk to turn a profit by the end of 2025.
“We have a clear focus: building the number one SaaS business travel platform for [small and medium-size businesses] and mid-tier companies in Europe and the US.”
“Over the last 18 months we have heavily invested in building our AI-powered travel tech stack, significantly improving user experience as well as the speed and agility of our customer service agents.”
Avi Meir, CEO and cofounder
AI improvement
With over 1.2k employees, TravelPerk provides a platform for managing company travel that includes spending tracking and booking.
The additional funding will go toward developing AI-powered platform automation, procuring additional transportation and lodging alternatives for its user base, and launching new corporate travel services.
According to him, TravelPerk has achieved a 50% increase in efficiency and a 50% reduction in customer service costs through the automation of manual processes like flight change requests.
Meir also hopes to accelerate expansion by further localizing TravelPerk’s offering in all of its primary markets.
“In the business of corporate travel, the best product experience means offering the biggest choice of inventory at the best available price,” he says. “We will continue to build on our industry-leading inventory capabilities by opening up better options across air, rail, hotel and car.”
Boom in travel
Based on statistics on airline bookings given by the startup, TravelPerk’s revenues increased by more than 70% year over year in 2023, driven by a 56% increase in foreign business travels to the US.
In terms of international business travel, the US topped the list last year, with flight bookings increasing by 80% and 73%, respectively, to Germany and the UK.
With the acquisition of Santa Monica-based startup NexTravel two years ago, and with plans to hire more staff, TravelPerk has its sights set squarely on the US market.
With operations in Boston, Chicago, and Miami, Meir predicts that 20–25% of TravelPerk’s growth this year will come from the US.
Future growth is also expected to come from targeting small and medium-size companies, which Stephen Thorne, investment director for SoftBank Investment Advisers and new member of TravelPerk’s board of directors, says form a “largely underserved” group of potential customers.
