Social travel websites were appearing on the scene in 2007 at a similar rate to flash sale startups - in other words: perhaps one or two every month.
Minube has managed to buck the trend of those that arrived and disappeared within just a few years (or even less) and claims to attracted one million registered users since its launch six years ago.
Some 45 million visits a year to its desktop and mobile applications has obviously stirred something in the investment world as the Spain-base has attracted $1.4 million (Euro 1 million) from existing investor Sputnik Ventures alongside new partners Kibo Ventures and Bonsai Venture Capital.
CEO and founder, Raúl Jiménez, says:
"Modern travelers have an enormous amount of online resources to choose from when planning their trips. Differentiation is the key, and we’ve creating something unique and different and are striving to become a point of reference among travelers.
"The entrance of our new investors has reaffirmed the fact that our goal of revolutionizing the travel industry via social travel is possible and viable. We’ve creating a phenomenal site where travelers’ recommendations have real credibility and value for other users, whether they’re still in the planning phase or even comparing prices and booking their trips."
Minube says it will use the injection of capital to continue expanding internationally, with 2014 expecting to see a roll-out into Latin America, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
The company claims to have seen two million downloads of its app (iOS6, Android and Windows) and roughly 40% of its overall traffic comes via a device.
Users have uploaded 1.3 million photos to site from 580,000 points of interest.
Revenue for the site is captured online ads and from referrals to third party sites for flights and hotels (Booking.com, for example)