Ground transportation platform Bookaway Group has acquired Plataforma 10.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but Bookaway says the acquisition of the Argentina-based ground transport online travel agency will help it expand more rapidly across Latin America.
According to a statement Plataforma 10 partners with more than 400 bus companies in the region helping them distribute their tickets more widely via the OTA’s website, travel agencies and about 2,000 local shops and kiosks.
Bookaway plans to invest “significant capital” to help Plataforma 10 expand into new markets including Brazil and Peru.
Bookaway now has four OTA brands including GetByBus in the Balkans and Bookaway and 12Go in Asia Pacific.
Noam Toister, co-founder and CEO of Bookaway Group, says: “Plataforma 10 is an outstanding team that’s been instrumental to ground transport tech in Argentina. Joining the Bookaway Group means the company can expand exponentially faster across the region, complementing the global coverage we already have in Asia and Europe.
“It’s still unbelievably difficult to compare and book ground transport today. Travelers don’t want the anxiety of buying a ticket minutes before they travel and prefer to plan ahead with the transparency and confidence that e-Commerce can provide. Organizing the information in an industry this fragmented is a huge challenge, but we’re going all out to do it in the next few years.”
In a recent article on PhocusWire, Toister shared thoughts on the company's M&A strategy and its experiences of getting through the pandemic as a startup.
Bookaway, which has received $46 million in two funding rounds since 2020, says its mission is to digitize the ground transport industry.