US-based JetBay, an online platform for Chinese inbound travel, has raised $1.6 million and will invest the money in building up its product and branding.
Chief operating officer James Tan told Tnooz that the funding is the first significant injection the business has had, other than seed funding via its involvement with 500StartUps.
San Francisco-based ChinaRock Capital Management is behind the cash.
Tan explained that inbound was often overlooked in conversations about the Chinese travel market.
"But it is the fourth biggest inbound market in the world after the US, France and Spain. There's no reason why it can't grow further, because of China's growing economic ties with the rest of the world."
JetBay specialises in escorted tours of China, with all the itineraries "curated" to the individual.
It offers English-language guides on the tours because "the language barrier is the major issue for people wanting to visit China...If you go to Tripadvisor sure there are contact details and addresses but there's no guarantee they can speak English".
As a result, JetBay has identified English-speaking guests as one of its priorities.
"We'll use some of the money to start building up the brand," Tan says. "We've got 17 countries in mind. Most Chinese inbound is from Asia but we also plan to be active in the US and UK."
The itineraries include the main attractions of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou but smaller less-well known cities. Tan aims to have inventory in 100 cities which can be offered in different permutations.
Building up its supply of attractions which are bookable online has also been earmarked for some of the cash.
Boosting the inventory is where Tan's background comes in. He founded Chinese group deals site 55tuan where he worked with many businesses he now wants to bring onto Jetbay's platform.
Tan is also unconcerned about the hyper-competitive Chinese travel market. As an inbound specialist, Jetbay is not involved in the fierce battle for share of domestic air and accommodation bookings of the major OTAs.
"We don't see them as competition, in fact, we're opening to partnering with them."
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