Experiences platform Klook has secured $100 million in funding from Vitruvian Partners.
The Asia-based company, which marked its 10th anniversary in 2024, is working to extend its reach across Asia Pacific and beyond as well as attract younger travelers, it said in a statement.
The fresh capital will go towards further growth, and the company plans to improve customer service, merchant operations and internal productivity through its artificial intelligence partnership with Google Cloud, it said.
The investment comes just over a year after Klook landed $210 million in a Series E+ round led by Bessemer Ventures Partners. Klook said at the time that it had achieved overall profitability for the first time and annualized gross booking value of $3 billion.
“Over the past decade, Klook has established itself as the go-to platform for travel experiences in Asia Pacific, reimagining how travelers discover and connect with destinations,” said Ethan Lin, co-founder and CEO of Klook.
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“With the region set to remain the heartbeat of global tourism, Klook’s strong brand, extensive supply network, and deep local expertise position us to deliver even greater value to the next generation of experience-driven travelers across the world. We are excited to welcome Vitruvian on this journey.”
Klook recently announced a booking integration with TikTok as part of its Kreator program for influencers. The partnership, which extends across seven markets in Southeast Asia and Japan, enables TikTok users to find and book activities within the TikTok app, and is part of Klook’s strategy to attract Gen Z and millennial travelers.
"Klook’s track record of innovation, commitment to customer experience, and deep market expertise make it uniquely positioned to lead the transformation of travel experiences in Asia Pacific,” said Sophie Bower-Straziota, partner at Vitruvian Partners. “We believe Vitruvian's investment and its deep thematic expertise in the global travel experience market will help further drive Klook’s growth by strengthening its operational capabilities and expanding its reach.”
Vitruvian is also an investor in Spain-based tours and activities marketplace Civitatis. The company invested €100 million in Civitatis in 2022 and recently upped its stake and invested a further $50 million.
Klook's steady growth
Klook has seen a number of funding rounds over the past several years beyond the aforementioned 2023 funding.
In a Series D round started in 2018, Klook raised a total of $425 million. It raised an additional $200 million in 2021 during a Series E funding round.
The company has also had a number of partnerships with other travel giants including Seera Group, Tiqets and Booking.com.
As it celebrated its decade of existence last fall, Klook was settings its sights on its next phase of growth. The company told PhocusWire sister publication WebinTravel at the time it was focusing on the creator economy, social commerce integration and growth in Asia and also potentially in Western markets.
“We’ve always been at the forefront of bringing the world closer to experiences,” Marcus Yong, vice president of global marketing at Klook, said at the time. “Our mission is to bridge cultures and boundaries and that’s something we’re incredibly passionate about.”
Opportunity abounds in region, sector
The company has become a leading provider of experiences in Asia, a region that is seeing a resurgence with gross travel bookings expected to surpass $490 billion this year, according to Phocuswright's latest Asia Pacific travel market research.
But the opportunity isn't just regional. Klook's company's ambitions come at a time when the tours and activities sector is heating up. Room for growth remains, according to experts.
"I think it has increased, more and more," said Luuc Elzinga, founder and president of Tiqets during an interview in November in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference. He said that travelers are preferencing experiences over material goods, which is leading to more room in the space as demand grows.
Christian Watts, CEO of Magpie, agreed. He said during the studio interview there is room for both small and large players to take advantage.
“It's the reason to travel,” Elzinga said. “It's the reason why people remember where they've gone.”
Watch the full discussion with senior reporter Morgan Hines below:
The Phocuswright Conference 2024 - Executive Interview: Trends in Tours & Activities
Senior reporter Morgan Hines contributed to this story.