Who said tours and activities is a tricky sector? Not TripAdvisor, it seems, nor GetYourGuide after raising $25 million in Series B.
The latest injection comes via Spark Capital and Highland Capital Partners, both of which previously supported the Series A round for the online marketplace for tours and activities.
GetYourGuide raised $4.5 million just seven months ago, with investment from Kees Koolen and Fritz Demopoulos, ex-respective CEOs of Booking.com and Qunar.
The company's Series A was almost exactly 12 months before when it captured $14 million.
In what some might consider to be rather poetic, GetYourGuide is understood to have signed the agreement with its backers on the same day that TripAdvisor announced its intention to acquire GetYourGuide's arch rival Viator for $200 million.
That move in particular was touted by Tnooz Node Alex Kremer as "the big market move it has so desperately needed", perhaps illustrating that whilst many startups were trying to make some in-roads/gain traction, the reality was that sector as a whole was probably waiting for some of legitimacy from other players in the industry.
Heavyweight backing for GetYourGuide to the tune of $25 million may reinforce that further.
CEO Johannes Reck says:
"We have an amazing market position and phenomenal growth rates at this point and are very focused on continuing this development.
Reck adds the new funding round will be used to "extending our footprint in new markets" and pushing its mobile strategy.
Currently the company claims to have partnered with more than 25,000 activities in 2,400 destination around the globe.
Spark Capital general partner Alex Finkelstein says:
"As a Series A investor we have been fortunate to work closely with GetYourGuide.
"We’ve been extremely impressed with their growth curve over the last year, and we have decided to double down our investment with another $25 million."