As a result of Austria’s version of ‘Dragon’s Den’, a TV show linking investors and startups, TourRadar just closed a second round of funding. In this current round, which closed in at $500K with a $4.5 million valuation, SpeedInvest and some existing investors increased their stakes, while AC & Friends, the fund of two business angels, joined as new investors.
Founded in 2010, TourRadar is an online travel agency specialising in group travel. Headquartered in Vienna, the startup now continues its expansion into the $200+ billion tour industry, already offering thousands of tours directly bookable on the site. In total over 20,000 group tours can be compared on TourRadar, offering something for every taste.
The tour travel space is said to be one of the last untapped areas of online travel; where many platforms focus on local in-destination experiences, TourRadar provides more breadth by offering multi-day tours and include the social angle right from the beginning. Through TourRadar’s ‘Meet App’, a smartphone app available for Android and iPhone, users are able to find travel buddies before their actually trip starts.
Interestingly this funding happened ‘on air’ in the Austrian version of ‘Dragon’s Den’, where Travis Pittman, co-founder of Australia descent, pitched the startup and got investors committed on the spot. ‘2 Minuten, 2 Millionen’ (2 Minutes, 2 Million) as the show was called, proved to be two very well invested minutes in the founder’s journey. Travis Pittman said: “I am happy that we are able to fuel our growth with this investment, growing our brand and converting more tour operators to the agency booking model we now offer”.
TourRadar has seen substantial growth in its agency business, having achieved a $1.5 million run rate within 6 months of launching its booking engine, now exceeding $150K gross revenue per month. Pittman is confident that this additional funding will only help continue TourRadar’s trajectory to becoming the leading online destination for group travel.
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