Berlin-based
Tourlane has secured $8.5 million to expand its service that combines the customized
offerings of a traditional travel agent with the ease of online booking.
The Series A
financing round came from Spark Capital, Holtzbrinck Ventures and DN Capital.
The company was founded in 2016 by Julian Weselek, formerly of Rocket Internet, and Julian Stiefel, whose first company, Accoleo, was acquired in 2011 by Airbnb, where he then worked.
Tourlane's initial
funding – about $1.5 million - came from angel investors that included Nathan
Blecharczyk from Airbnb, Johannes Reck from GetYourGuide, Wolfgang Heigl and
Patrick Andrä from HomeToGo, and Qunar founder Fritz Demopoulos.
The company currently
has more than 100 partners in its system who are experts on destinations and experiences
in Africa, Asia, North and South America and Australia.
Users
complete a brief online questionnaire regarding their interests, and the system
then shares that information with as many as three partners who contact the traveler
to complete the planning and booking. The company also has in-house experts who
assist travelers.
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Stiefel says
Tourlane’s services are intended for travelers planning complex trips – for
example to a remote destination or involving multiple stops or including an activity
that requires pre-booking such as scuba diving or golf. The service can also be
used to create packages that combine transportation, accommodations and
activities.
“It’s where a
consultation of an expert is necessary, not the typical beach vacation,” he
says.
“Otherwise it
takes a lot of time to put together these trips. And there is such a big inventory
over the Internet – it can be overwhelming. It’s important to us to have the
expert to combine the personalization with the technology.”
Partners pay
a fee to be part of the system, and the service is free for travelers.
“At Spark, we
love investing in companies that, at first glance, may seem targeted at
antiquated markets. But the more you dig in, the more you realize there is an
enormous opportunity to build large, category-defining companies that begin at
the discovery phase and end with a delightful consumer experience,” says Alex
Finkelstein, partner at Spark Capital.
“By building
a vertically integrated, tech-driven travel company with the scale and margins
of an online business, Tourlane replaces the existing model of booking travel
via offline agencies and operators.”
Stiefel says
the new funding will be used to expand Tourlane’s services to new locations and
to improve the product and user experience.