KKR, a leading global investment firm, has just announced that it is leading a $50 million growth equity investment in Berlin-based GetYourGuide – one of the leading independent online marketplaces for discovering and booking travel activities worldwide. GetYourGuide’s existing investors, Spark Capital, Highland Capital Partners and Sunstone Capital as well as new investor Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) will join the financing round. Going forward, KKR aims to support GetYourGuide’s global expansion by providing primary capital, operational resources and access to its global network.
Founded in 2009, GetYourGuide is independent online platform for booking travel activities all across the world. Operating in the global market for travel activities with an estimated size of $100 billion annually, the company offers a digital marketplace, connecting the highly fragmented ecosystem of global tour and activity operators with domestic and international travelers. Through its highly optimized online and mobile platform, travelers enjoy a one-stop-shop to search, discover, book and digitally redeem travel experiences.
GetYourGuide offers over 27,800 activities in more than 2,500 destinations, including everything from a Segway tour of San Francisco, to fast-track tickets on the Eiffel Tower, to a river cruise in Shanghai. The company is managed by its co-founders, Johannes Reck and Tao Tao, and backed by travel industry veterans Kees Koolen (former CEO of Booking.com) and Fritz Demopoulos (founder of Qunar.com) as well as leading venture capital firms Spark Capital and Highland Capital Partners.
Johannes Reck, CEO and co-founder of GetYourGuide: “Enjoying new experiences is the core of why we travel. However, the way travelers book these travel activities today remains predominantly offline and is fraught with challenges. GetYourGuide enables travelers to search and book travel activities via one single platform which tremendously simplifies the process and saves time. We are raising new capital to enhance our capabilities globally and chose KKR as a differentiated and experienced partner that will help us accelerate our global expansion.”
GetYourGuide is part of KKR’s growth equity strategy, which is focused on market-leading, high-growth companies for which KKR can be a unique partner in helping reach scale and the next level of growth. Philipp Freise, Member and Head of the European Media & Digital Investment team at KKR: “We are excited to partner with the founder-led GetYourGuide team, which operates in the highly attractive global market for leisure activities. The company has a tremendous opportunity to take the clear leadership position in the fast growing large market for digital leisure travel. Similar to our recent digital-driven European investments in Trainline, Scout24 Switzerland, Fotolia, arago and BMG, KKR will help unleash GetYourGuide’s enormous potential. After our investments in BMG and Fotolia, this transaction marks KKR’s third growth investment in Berlin, one of Europe’s leading leading technology ecosystems which we are delighted to be a part of.”