TRAVLR
- Written by Nancy McDonald
Travel technology company TRAVLR gears up for its Series B raise
Australia’s leading travel technology company TRAVLR is gearing up for its Series B capital raise following the successful launch of its online booking engine, world first travel partnerships, record sales and heightened investor interest.
TRAVLR first emerged as a disruptor to the travel sector in 2017, connecting travellers with a new way to discover and plan their next travel adventure. Using advanced technologies including machine learning and artificial intelligence, the TRAVLR platform automatically curates and offers recommendations based on the type of traveller you are and the trip you want to take.
Following a successful Series A raise in 2017 for $5 million, TRAVLR this week embarks on a Series B capital raise in the vicinity of $5-10 million attracting considerable interest from Australian and overseas investors.
A revolutionary new technology platform that resolves an issue faced by travellers worldwide with the inability to manage and book your own travel end-to-end within one site, TRAVLR boasts over 2 million users, followers and subscribers on its platform.
TRAVLR has secured commercial partnerships with Expedia, Agoda Homes, Webbeds, JacTravel, Totalstay, Viator, Garuda Indonesia, Fiji Airways, Emirates, Air New Zealand, ResDirary, GOPRO, Amadeus & Flexi Group.
The Melbourne based startup brings together multiple partners into one ecosystems to offer its users flight, hotel, tour and experience content they can purchase on the one site.
Also first to market with its white label products for international tourism bodies, TRAVLR offers tourism boards and commercial partners a white-labelled version of its platform to complement or replace existing digital assets, NZ tourism sites Queenstown isite and Auckland isite are the first to embrace the product with many other partners already in the pipeline.
With plans to fast track the TRAVLR platform, CEO and Co-Founder, Simon te Hennepe says the Series B capital raise will aggressively accelerate growth of the platform and its functionality.
“We’ve been a market leader for almost a decade in the dream and planning stage of travel and acquiring customer ownership before the user starts their traditional flight or hotel search is one of the most unique and appealing areas of what we are doing. With the roll out of our new multi-partner booking engine, it gives our customers the best value, and gives us greater ability to own the customer before the traditional OTAs which means we won’t get into that fight for the booking.”
“With the final elements of TRAVLR rolling out now, we are in a very exciting stage where we have a replicable platform, relatively low fixed overheads, and the potential of tremendous growth, creating a global travel platform that surpasses anything in the market,” he said.
“Our immediate goal is to refine and elevate our user experience while we launch into and establish ourselves in our initial destinations of New Zealand, Fiji & Pacific Islands and throughout Indonesia. From there we’ve got an ambitious roadmap to roll out into more than 59 destinations over the next 4 years”, he said.
This week TRAVLR kicks off its live bookings functionality that allows travellers to source member pricing from Agoda and Expedia in one option providing the best possible price through real recommendations. Complimenting this technology, TRAVLR is set to launch accommodation deals alongside its content with up to 40% more value if booked via the TRAVLR site.
With 76% of travellers now taking the advice of their peers compared to 18% from a traditional ‘expert’, TRAVLR provides a seamless, trustworthy and intelligent solution that allows users to discover, plan, book, experience and share their travel in one simple and seamless platform.
The travel technology platform balances the need for personalised advice while giving the user full control over planning their trip, TRAVLR has eliminated the need to choose between the two traditional paths of travel planning by enabling you to get the best of both worlds.
Over the last six months, TRAVLR has rapidly expanded its leadership team with the appointment of former Head of Bon Voyage and Scoopon Travel at Luxury Escapes, Gordy Bayne as TRAVLR’s new Global Commercial Director, Geoff Stringer, a veteran of the global travel industry having spent eighteen years with Lonely Planet as the new Chief Operating Officer of TRAVLR , as well as respected technical leader and entrepreneur with a passion for solving complex technology problems and accelerating startups, Stuart Rowe, as Chief Technology officer.
