TripActions raises $51M to fix “severely broken” corporate travel system

TripActions believes it has a solution to reinvent business travel by giving travelers more choices, better support and incentives to spend wisely.

And a group of investors believes it, too, to the tune of $51 million.

That’s how much TripActions has secured in a Series B financing round led by Arif Janmohamed, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and joined by Oren Zeev of Zeev Ventures. This brings the total capital raised to just under $80 million for the company that launched in 2016.

“The current system for business travel is severely broken,” says Ariel Cohen, CEO and co-founder of TripActions.

“No one has started from the point of view of the road warrior and put them first when building a travel solution. We’re fixing that. Every decision we make puts the needs of the traveler first," she says.

"In order to deliver outstanding service to our travelers and customers, we need to build custom technology to reinvent infrastructure that hasn’t been updated in decades. With this investment led by Lightspeed, we’re able to scale up TripActions to provide a stronger holistic solution globally for our customers and travelers.”

TripActions says its users get access to an inventory of flights, car rentals and hotels that includes options usually found only on consumer travel and deep discount sites.

It also uses machine learning technology to expedite the booking process and an artificial-intelligence-powered support platform that alerts its agents if a customer misses a connection and automatically suggests alternatives.

But TripActions’ most unique feature is its incentive program, which rewards travelers with Amazon gift cards or credits for personal vacations when they choose cost-effective hotel rooms or flights.

Since its launch, the company says the number of customers and travelers under management has doubled every quarter, and bookings grew 12 times in 2017.

TripActions also says its customers save an average of 27% on their travel spend and enjoy 97% traveler satisfaction.

“We have been blown away by the pace of growth we’ve seen at TripActions with rapid adoption from mid-market companies and small businesses alike,” says Arif Janmohamed, partner at Lightspeed.

“There’s no question that companies and travelers are looking for a modern, innovative approach to corporate travel and that they’re ready to switch to something better. By addressing traveler pain points and saving companies substantial money, TripActions is changing this $1.5 trillion market.”

TripActions plans to use the funding to build out its technology platform and strengthen its operations globally.