SA online travel agency gets whopping R648 million funding
Cape Town based online travel agency Travelstart says it has raised US$40 million (R648 million) in funding from MTN, and UK-based technology investment company Amadeus Capital Partners.
The investment will be used to accelerate the company’s rapid growth into new markets and further entrench its dominance on the continent as an online travel booking portal.
Amadeus Capital Partners’ Andrea Traversone will join Travelstart’s Board of Directors as part of this financing.
Travelstart launched in South Africa in 2006 and has built distribution partnerships with more than 1000 third party websites through its Affiliate Program. It has since launched its B2B offering called neXt, and launched its app called Flapp – which allows users to book flights on single popular “commuter” routes in seconds.
The company has more than 2 million monthly users in 16 countries who use its technology to book flights, hotels and rental cars around the world.
Over the last year, Travelstart said it has grown its staff to well over 200 located in Cape Town, Lagos, Cairo, Dar es Salaam, Dubai and Istanbul. The company will use the additional financing to continue expanding its global reach, accelerate product growth and innovation, and invest in additional sales and marketing resources.
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