The UK-based Hogg Robinson Group announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the German travel management startup eWings.com. Financial terms regarding the acquisition were not disclosed. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Berlin, eWings was able to raise more than €1.2 million in venture capital.
eWings provides a fast and easy-to-use solution for digital business travel with a quick to start process and low cost service model which is especially well suited to small businesses that require a simplified digital service. With eWings, business clients have access to the airlines’ net rates and are able to choose from over 107,000 flights by over 700 airlines per day. Search results can be compared according to stress level, price, departure, arrival and duration and can be booked within 60 seconds.
In the past, we mentioned eWings as one of “the hottest European travel startups in 2015“.
Bill Brindle, CIO of Hogg Robinson Group, stated: “eWings.com provides us with a developed solution as well as some great new technology which is highly complementary to our own proprietary technology and will fit perfectly with our platform. In addition to being an exciting new approach to fast and easy business travel, eWings.com gives us a speed to market advantage in the small business space and means we can accelerate our new distribution strategy across the whole market.”
Operating currently in Germany, eWings.com has the same Omni-Channel capability being developed by Hogg Robinson Group-owned HRG for its global corporate clients and there might be both technology advantages and synergies.
According to Hogg Robinson Group, there will be no immediate change for clients, partners and staff, and it will be very much business-as-usual for eWings.com and HRG as the teams work towards the technology opportunities and new client advantages that this acquisition brings.