Tripmakery, an Austrian-based search and booking platform that helps book group travel accommodations, successfully raised USD 1.1 million in later-stage venture capital funding. The funding was led by venture capital firms Gateway Ventures, ZAKA VC, KFLT Angels, and SeedBlink, alongside individual investor Jean-Pascal Duvieusart.
With this funding, the company plans to expand its operations and grow faster across Europe. The company last raised funds in 2018, with this being their most recent round of funding received.
Tripmakery, the only group travel booking platform from Austria, offers seamless booking experience for group travellers seeking suitable accommodations across Europe. The company prioritizes the platform's ease of use and functionality for its users, and hence, launched its innovative group booking API, which allows users to directly book hotels.
Co-founder of Tripmakery, Robert Sasse said, "We are delighted with the growth Tripmakery has achieved since its inception. Our personal experience travelling in large groups has inspired us to tackle the challenges of group hotel bookings. Today, thousands of customers rely on our platform monthly, and we see strong demand from school classes, businesses, sports clubs and other travel groups."
“It took us several years to develop this innovative solution. We provide a special service in the hotel booking industry, hundreds of hotels being eager to simplify their operation. More than 7,000 groups are now being processed, this number increasing by 10% to 15% each month. We're close to breaking even with our highly profitable business,” he added.
Co-founded in 2015, by Robert Sasse and Ajmal Said, Vienna-based Tripmakery is a leading group travel booking platform in Europe. With 10 efficient employees, the company is focused on bridging the gap between making group travel booking easier for any kind of group. The company has more than 65,000 accommodation options across Europe, including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, and hostels, and has witnessed continuous growth each year since its astonishing recovery from the challenges posed by Covid.
With more than 22,000 European destinations, the company has organized over 15,000 group trips to date and currently handles more than 5000+ groups per month, alongside offering users access to exclusive offers and benefits. Tripmakery receives enquiries mainly from the DACH region due to its impressive performance and strong hold over the region, and further aims to expand its business into other regions of the world, including North America and Asia.
The company offers its hoteliers the advantage of receiving over 5,000 group enquiries per month, resulting in an average of at least 25 guests per group, with access to a network of 30,000+ partner hotels across Europe.
In 2021, the company launched the tripmakery Pro, a booking platform especially designed for professionals. Tripmakery's rapid growth within a limited time period, attracts investors for future investments.
Head of Investment at Gateway Ventures, Andreas Boue said, "What we particularly like about our portfolio company Tripmakery, in addition to the excellent team, were the impressive growth figures and the strong competitive position. Tripmakery’s business development to date confirms our original assessment that we presented a good startup to our investors."
Jan Kasper, managing partner and co-founder of ZAKA VC said, "The group accommodation market is massive and it has no significant leader yet. The demand for the digitization of this part of the travel industry is very high, as evidenced by significant organic growth of Tripmakery. We believe that the team has what it takes to strengthen their position in the DACH region, expand into other parts of the world and become a clear leader in their category."
According to Crunchbase, tripmakery is ranked 911,011 among websites worldwide based on its 25,000+ monthly web visits, with most visits mainly from Italy, followed by Germany. Additionally, as per data from Owler, Tripmakery has an estimated revenue of nearly UDS 1 million.
The company aims to quickly facilitate additional expansion, giving a hint on recieving further investment in the near future.
References:
https://tripmakery.com/ https://tripmakery.com/en/about-us/ https://partner.tripmakery.com/en/ https://www.owler.com/company/tripmakery https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tripcake
https://seedblink.com/en/press-room/2023-03-31-tripmakery-an-austrian-traveltech-st artup-targets-a-%E2%82%AC2m-financing-round-to-automate-large-group-bookings https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/08/vienna-based-tripmakery-com-bags-seven-figur e-investment-to-expand-its-group-bookings-across-europe/