Etraveli Group acquires TripStack, Flight Network in effort to build North American presence

Etraveli Group has acquired air technology specialist TripStack and online travel agency Flight Network for an undisclosed sum.

The Sweden-based company, whose brands include Gotogate, Seat24 and Flygresor, says the move will boost its presence in North America as well as extend its airline integration capabilities.

TripStack, which is based in Canada, received funding of $6 million almost a year ago and released its Every Flight on Earth for OTAs to access to low-cost carriers and TripBuilder to access virtual interlining fares tools at the same time.

Etraveli itself was bought by CVC Capital Partners Fund from ProSiebenSat.1 in June 2017 for more than €500 million.

Later the same year, Etraveli acquired Greece-based eTravel with a goal of becoming Europe’s leading flights-focused OTA.

The company says it operates in more than 50 markets but is particularly strong in the Nordics, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

In a statement, the group says it has seen an annual growth rate of more than 30% since 2014.

Mathias Hedlund, CEO of Etraveli Group, says the company was initially interested in TripStack, but the CEO and founder, Naman Budhdeo, wanted to dispose of both.

Hedlund says: “TripStack was a very strategic move and it also gave us a very clear path of distributing our own brand and making sure we can be competitive in any market.”

He adds he’s now “really happy” with Flight Network, which will be of “financial value.”

The company plans to spend the coming months integrating the TripStack technology, but Hedlund says it is not ruling out further acquisitions.

“We’re humble, we’re going to be busy integrating. There’s a lot of strategic change happening in the industry with airlines changing the distribution model and Google Flights taking off and there are signs it’s taking off in Europe now and we want to be a part of that.”

Etraveli Group has also recruited Pia Vemmelund, former managing director of Kayak EMEA and Momondo, to run TripStack alongside Budhdeo.

TripStack spoke to PhocusWire at The Phocuswright Conference in 2018. See the clip below.