India-based online marketplace for travel agents, TravelTriangle, has raised pre-series A investment of $1.7 million from SAIF Partners.
The company (TLabs showcase) is planning to use the new fund to improve its intelligence around pricing, user data, mobile and also invest in big data solutions.
TravelTriangle works by allowing users to submit a travel request and get quotes from multiple travel agents. The company guarantees a 48-hour response time from the agents. Once the user is happy with a quote, the agent and user can negotiate the price or customize it (all in the platform) and book it.
Also, users can search for existing travel itineraries in the system, compare packages and proceed to book it with the agent.
Currently, the company has 30,000 to 40,000 itineraries sourced from 430 travel agents.
Principal at SAIF Partners, Mukul Singhal, says:
"TravelTriangle.com is built on a solid business model and their numbers are great. We, particularly, like their passion and determination to create an excellent buying experience for travel enthusiasts. Connecting consumers with the end agent means good deals and improved and personalised holiday experiences.".
Competitors of TravelTriangle in India include TripFactory, WeAreHolidays, MustSeeIndia, trip planning services such as mygola and TripHobo (raised Series A recently).
The company is profitable and its current annual gross transaction value is around $3.5 million.
Founded in 2010 by three IIT graduates - Sanchit Garg, Prabhat Gupta and Sankalp Agarwal - TravelTriangle gets 100,000 unique visitors to its site, has over 430 travel agents on its platform, and over 1,400 reviews of agents.
SAIF Partners' other travel industry investments include MakeMyTrip, ixigo, and Taj Resorts & Palaces.