Travel activity platform Klook is taking activity-booking to a new level.
The Hong Kong-based start-up has received $200 million in capital to fund its expansion into the US and Europe. Such an expansion will truly make Klook global.
According to a spokesperson, the latest funding round means the company is now valued at over $1 billion.
What is Klook?
Klook is a 4-year-old travel activity booking app, which aims to make what you do on holidays as easy to book as flights and hotels currently are. So think of theme park visits, museum tours, beach activities, go-karting etc., to even basic arrangements such as train travel, food, and airport transfers.
An entire array of bookings can be found, paid for and taken using Klook’s platform. It has activities in excess of 50,000 and services from 5,000 partners in over 200 destinations across the world. This year alone, the Klook platform is on track to gross $1 billion in bookings.
Expansion
Klook co-founder and COO, Eric Gnock Fah, explains how the company is leading the way:
“A lot of people thought this was a very niche sector, but it is proving to be a very valuable industry [and] we’re glad to be the leader.”
Klook now has 16 offices with a headcount of 600 staff. It recently opened offices in London and Amsterdam but now the company has its sights set on the US with an office expected to open there before the end of 2018.
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Success
In just over one year the start-up has proven its worth with a series of successful funding rounds. It closed a $30 million Series B in March 2017, and then closed a $60 million Series C the following October.
Now, this latest round of $200 million, means it has received almost $300 million to date in funding.
Gnock Fah continued:
“This round is really gearing up to global expansion, there’s still plenty of growth in Asia but now we will be really accelerating our growth into the U.S. and Europe. We’re really entering the global stage [and attracting an investor like] TCV is a testament to what we’re looking to achieve as a global player.”
Thoughts
Klook is hitting into a market that can only boom. You can’t help but think of Airbnb and how it changed accommodation within the travel industry. Are holiday activities the next big thing? What do you think?
Featured Image: Freepik
