Holidu describes itself as the world's fastest-growing travel tech company. The financing announced now is expected to contribute to the Munich-based startup's further growth. It is part of a €5 million extension to its Series C financing round. Holidu had already completed the Series C financing of over €40 million last year (Munich Startup reported).
Continued growth
The travel tech company plans to use the newly raised capital to further expand. Although the coronavirus crisis has hit the travel market hard, the platform for searching and booking vacation rentals is on a growth trajectory.
Due to the changed travel and booking behavior, the Startup Holidu, founded in 2014 by brothers Johannes and Michael Siebers has been profitable since May 2020 and has generated a seven-figure operating result since then. In July alone, more than 27 million users visited the Holidu website. This in turn led to a 2.6-fold increase in bookings compared to the previous year and more than €130 million in newly generated bookings.
The Search engine for holiday homes and apartments enables travelers to find vacation homes at the lowest price on more than a thousand portals worldwide. Holidu also offers a software and service solution for vacation home owners under the Bookiply brand. This allows vacation homes to be advertised on the largest travel websites, calendars to be synchronized, and multilingual descriptions and professional photos to be created.
Traveling despite Corona
The coronavirus pandemic had severely restricted people's travel. But as soon as restrictions eased, many looked for "safe" solutions. Social distancing from others is easier to maintain in vacation homes than in hotels. Holidu also benefited from this.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has reshuffled the cards in the travel industry, and Holidu is one of the clear winners in the market,”
explains former Booking CEO Kees Koolen. Kees Koolen has been an active advisory board member at Holidu since 2016. He continues:
"In the five years I've been working with Holidu, my trust in the team has only grown. The company's ability to accurately identify customer needs with data and best serve them with innovative technology is unparalleled in the industry."
Michael Siebers, co-founder and CTO at Holidu, says:
"Kees' investment, as well as his continued guidance and support as an Advisory Board member, are a significant vote of confidence in our company and the industry amid this unprecedented crisis. This financing will help us seize the many growth opportunities ahead and be prepared for any future scenario."
