Corporate travel management company TripActions has raised a whopping $154 million in a series C round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Zeev Ventures, and SGVC.
This takes the company’s total funding to $236 million and bestows upon it a valuation of more than $1 billion, according to a company spokesperson.
Founded in 2015, Palo Alto-based TripActions pitches itself as an end-to-tend travel-management company, serving up access to a greater choice of hotels, flights, car hire services, and related travel services, all with the promise of “exclusive” prices.
Tying into this, the TripActions app provides a direct artery to round-the-clock support staff in the event of flight delays or other issues — basically saving employee the hassle of having to manage such mishaps themselves. So if a flight is cancelled, for example, TripActions can automatically sort things out and keep you informed.
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Above: TripActions: In-app messaging
In its three years so far, TripActions has amassed a number of big-name clients, including Dropbox, Lyft, Twilio, and Box, among others.
TripActions was founded by Ariel Cohen and Ilan Twig, who sold their previous startup, StreamOnce, to Jive Software in 2013.
“We know that travel plays a critical role in helping the most innovative companies achieve their growth objectives and stay a step ahead of the competition,” said Cohen, who serves as CEO at TripActions. “Unfortunately, business travel today is fraught with pain points for travelers and companies, leading to low traveler adoption and compliance rates, incomplete visibility into travel spend, and difficulty delivering duty of care. Cutting-edge companies are flocking to TripActions at a fast rate because we offer a modern, user-friendly solution that road warriors love.”
Travel-related technology startups have been scooping up investors’ cash by the bucketload this year, though a big focus has been on the consumer realm. By way of example, online travel marketplace Evaneos raised $81 million; activity-booking platform Klook nabbed a chunky $200 million; and travel content platform Culture Trip raised $80 million.
However, there have also been a bunch of notable raises in the corporate travel realm, including itinerary management startup TripCreator, which raised $8 million; expense management startup Divvy, which raised $35 million; and business travel booking firm TravelPerk, which raised $21 million.
Growth
With another hefty $154 million in the bank, TripActions said it plans to invest in a number of growth initiatives, including expanding its R&D team via a new engineering and data science hub in its Amsterdam-based EMEA headquarters.
“We’re re-thinking the way that corporate travel is run and supported globally,” added Twig, who serves as TripActions’ CTO. “With AI and machine learning, we’re able to deliver a truly customized traveler experience at scale, allowing us to reduce the time to book a trip from more than an hour to a mere six minutes.”
In the past year, TripActions said that it has grown its revenue 700 percent, and it now counts seven offices globally, including Palo Alto, Amsterdam, London, and Sydney.
As a result of Andreessen Horowitz’ investment, the firm’s cofounder, Ben Horowitz, will also join TripActions’ board of directors.
“TripActions is reshaping the stone age corporate travel industry with a solution that uses modern software and machine learning to deliver a personalized, delightful experience for road warriors and their employers,” said Horowitz.
