Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Travelguru, India's leading online travel portal, announced that it has received a fresh infusion of capital commitment to the tune of $15 million from Battery Ventures and Sequoia Capital India. This signifies the growing confidence of global investors in Travelguru's strong performance and market leadership in the high growth Indian travel market. The second round of funding will help in building retail initiatives to support online growth. Travelguru has very aggressive plans for marketing and brand building in the coming months.
In the past one year, Travelguru has grown to become the largest hotel consolidator in India, with access to more than 72,000 hotels worldwide and alliances with 500 airlines globally, and a leading consumer brand in the travel market. The company, well known for marketing highly innovative and value-driven hotel, holiday and travel packages, has emerged the market leader in hotel and holiday distribution services.
The number of customers who use Travelguru for their air, hotel stay and vacation needs is currently pegged at an impressive 70,000 customers a month. With a slew of promotional and strategic initiatives planned in the months ahead, the user base of Travelguru is set to grow by over 30% month on month. This tranche of investment in Travelguru by two globally renowned venture capital firms marks a significant milestone in the online travel space and is billed as the largest investment in one single round in the consumer internet space in India.
Commenting on the investment, Ashwin Damera, CEO and Founder, Travelguru said, "Our focus on delivering superior consumer experience through cutting edge technology, breadth of product offerings and best value travel deals has yielded great results to all our stakeholders. The second round of funding from Battery Ventures and Sequoia Capital reaffirms the growing confidence in Travelguru's team and leadership position in the Indian travel and tourism industry."
"The new round of investments will help us strengthen our reach through delivering retail experience to our consumer base as well as in making continued investments to maintain our high level of customer satisfaction and service. ", added Mr. Damera.
"We are very happy to announce our first major investment in the consumer internet space in India with Travelguru. Given our experience in technology in general and consumer internet specifically, we selectively look for companies with a few key ingredients: companies that address large markets, have very strong leadership, and have shown they can deliver innovative offerings as well as execute on sales and marketing. In a short span of time, Ashwin and his team have established a distinct identity for Travelguru in the online travel space in India.
We expect them to lead the market with solid industry relationships, continued product innovations, and high quality customer experiences," according to Mark Sherman, General Partner, Battery Ventures.
"We are delighted that US based Battery Ventures has chosen to join in on the second round of funding for Travelguru. This reflects our growing confidence in Travelguru's market position and capabilities. The growing consumer base and the leadership status of being the largest hotel consolidator in the Indian online travel market highlight the unique position of Travelguru. We are very excited to be partnering with Ashwin and the team to continue to innovate and build the leading online travel company in India" says KP Balaraj, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India.
About Travelguru
Travelguru is a pioneering travel solutions company that offers travelers the opportunity to plan and purchase their travel instantly, be it hotels or flights in a transparent, hassle-free, quick and smart way. Strategic partnerships and alliances with travel industry leaders give Travelguru the edge as an aggregator of travel services. Backed by next generation, real-time, metasearch technology, Travelguru throws up a wider range of travel options for domestic and outbound international travelers. Promoted by two Harvard Business School alumni with significant travel, technology and corporate experience and a team of experienced professionals from industries such as hospitality, travel & trade, financial services and E-commerce, Travelguru is set to redefine the way India travels. Travelguru can be found on the World Wide Web at www.Travelguru.com or can be reached by calling the company's toll free customer support center 1-800-22-4878 (GURU), 1-800-102-4878 (AIRTEL TOLL FREE) or on 022-40304878, 080-22489070.
About Battery Ventures
Since 1983, Battery has been investing in technology and innovation worldwide. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams across technology sectors, geographies and stages of a company's life, from start-up and expansion financing, to growth equity and buyouts. Battery has supported many breakthrough companies around the world, including: Airespace (acquired by Cisco), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Cbeyond (CBEY), LIFFE (acquired by Euronext), Neoteris (acquired by Netscreen), and SigmaTel (SGTL). Its current portfolio includes emerging firms such as Advent Solar, Netezza, Spot Runner, and Tejas Networks, as well as more established companies such as ITA Software, Made2Manage, MetroPCS, and Nova Analytics. From offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel, Battery manages more than $2B in committed capital. For more information, visit www.battery.com.
About Sequoia Capital India
Sequoia Capital India provides venture and growth equity capital to entrepreneurs who wish to build world-class companies. Sequoia Capital India manages three funds totaling $750mm focused on investments in India across sectors. Sequoia Capital India investments include Applabs, Bharti Telesoft, Cafe Coffee Day, GlobalLogic, Indiatimes, Travelguru and Shaadi. Globally, Sequoia Capital has been an early investor in such companies as Google, Yahoo, Apple, Oracle, Cisco and Youtube. To learn more about Sequoia Capital visit www.sequoiacap.com .
Ashwin Damera, Founder & CEO, Travelguru
Ashwin Damera, worked for Citibank in India in various financial and operating roles. A strong interest in the growth and success of low cost airlines led Ashwin to work for Dave Barger, the President and COO of JetBlue Airways. Ashwin has completed his MBA degree from Harvard Business School and is also a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Mark Sherman, General Partner, Battery Ventures
Mark joined Battery in 2000 and focuses primarily on consumer Internet, India, wireless, business process outsourcing (BPO) and software investments. Mark's investments at Battery include Donnerwood, mFormation, Neoteris (acquired by NetScreen), DecisionPoint Software (acquired by NCR), Donnerwood, and The Loan Page (acquired by HouseValues). Previously, Mark was a Managing Director at Robertson Stephens and led the firm's Internet and Software banking practices. Mark received a BS from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
KP Balaraj, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India
KP Balaraj is a Managing Director with Sequoia Capital India. Sequoia Capital India has been formed with WestBridge Capital Partners which Balaraj co-founded in 2000. Prior to founding WestBridge, Balaraj was part of the Whitehall Group of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he served as a member of Goldman-backed funds and operating companies that invested over $1 billion of private equity in Southeast Asia. Prior to that, Balaraj was a co-founder and CFO of Miradiant, a financial services venture-backed startup. Earlier, Balaraj was an investment banker at Salomon Brothers. Balaraj is a founding board member of Young Entrepreneur's Organization (YEO) Bangalore. Balaraj received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Business Management from Brigham Young University, where he graduated as valedictorian of his class.
Lily Ahluwalia, IPAN, + 91 98211 57026 lily.ahluwalia@ipan.com
Source: travelguru (Business Wire India)
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