Berlin-based GetYourGuide, a platform for discovering and booking travel experiences, announced on Thursday that it has raised $194M in a Series F equity and credit round of funding.
GetYourGuide says it will use the funds to expand in important regions such as North America and to speed up product innovation for both travellers and experience creators worldwide.
The $85M fundraising round, which also included KKR and Temasek, was headed by Blue Pool Capital.
UniCredit led the Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) of $109M with participation from BNP Paribas, Citi and KfW.
GetYourGuide claims that the funds will accelerate the pace of innovation for travellers and supply partners by developing capabilities of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).
According to GetYourGuide, the money arrives just in time for the start of the busiest travel period when the company’s platform is predicted to experience record-breaking engagement.
The big factor in this increased engagement includes Originals by GetYourGuide, the company’s signature co-created tours such as NYC: MoMA Before Hours Tour with Art Expert; London: Coronation Tour; Milan Cathedral & Terraces Exclusive After-Hours Tour; and Turning the Lights on at the Vatican Museums.
Founded in 2009 by Tao Tao, Martin Sieber, Johannes Reck and Tobias Rein, GetYourGuide is an international online marketplace that offers travellers “unforgettable” travel experiences.
The platform allows visitors to choose and reserve “unique” activities in any destination, including expert-led tours, culinary excursions, workshops in cooking and crafts, skip-the-line tickets, and exclusive bucket-list experiences.
GetYourGuide has over 75,000 activities from more than 16,000 experience creators. Since its inception, the company has sold more than 80 million tour, activity, and attraction tickets to travellers from over 150 countries.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa: