Berlin-based GetYourGuide will ramp up
its efforts to add new markets and broader inventory thanks to a huge new
funding round - $484 million - announced today.
The Series E round was led by SoftBank
Vision Fund and joined by co-investors Temasek, Lakestar and Heartcore Capital,
with continued support from existing investors including Swisscanto Invest.
“This funding allows us to take a much
longer-term view on the travel experiences space. ... Now we can have a 10- to
20-year time horizon,” says GetYourGuide co-founder and CEO Johannes Reck.
Reck says some of the company’s
immediate priorities include aggressive expansion into the Americas and Asia,
taking what has been learned from the company’s growth throughout Europe to
gain a foothold in these markets.
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When asked whether Asia will be a
challenge due to the presence of Klook – interestingly also funded by Softbank
Vision Fund with a $225 million D+ investment in April – Reck says, “Klook has
a very different geographic footprint in terms of source markets and in terms
of inventory and a very different customer acquisition strategy. So while
broadly in the same space, we are not directly competing at all."
More importantly, Reck says, he doesn’t
see it as “zero-sum game,” so any brands driving awareness of booking tours and
activities online is a benefit to all.
Product development
Along with geographic expansion,
GetYourGuide will use the new capital to continue developing its “GetYourGuide
Originals” product that launched in August 2018 in Rome, Paris and London. The
program offers branded experiences GetYourGuide has developed in partnership
with its top tour operators.
Reck says to date more than 30,000 Originals
tickets have been sold, and now they will begin rolling out the program to 25 major
metropolitan cities around the world.
GetYourGuide will also look to expand
the breadth of its offerings.
“We have a strong position in attraction
tickets, museums and sightseeing tours, and we recently ramped up in day trips
as well,” Reck says.
“But there’s still so much we can do
from traditional transportation and ground transportation – which we haven’t
covered at all – to even restaurants and culinary experiences, to outdoor and
adventure, to music shows and events. The list goes on and on.”
GetYourGuide currently has staff in 18 offices
around the world – its newest office is in Japan – and Reck says the company
will open new locations in the next couple of years.
As
part of the investment, SoftBank Investment Advisers partner Ted Fike will join
the GetYourGuide board of directors.
Fike
says, “Consumers, especially millennials, are spending an increasing portion of
their disposable income on travel experiences. We believe GetYourGuide is
leading this seismic shift by consolidating the fragmented global supply base
of tour operators and modernizing access for travelers globally.”
GetYourGuide
has also added two executives to its staff: Ameet Randive as its first chief
product officer and Nils Chrestin as chief financial officer.
Launched in 2009, GetYourGuide’s last funding came in a $75
million Series D round in November 2017, bringing its total to date to $654
million. The company says it has sold more than 25 million tickets for tours
and activities through its platform.