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Travel as a Service (TAAS) company TRAVLR has attracted high-profile investors in a $6.7 million pre-Series B raise to support the roll-out of landmark media deals and expansion into international markets.
Tony Gandel, Antony Catalano, Alex Waislitz’s ACM and Unlockd founder Matt Berriman all participated in the raise for the company, whose fully managed travel technology software is licensed to media companies including Network 10's 10Travlr and Stuff.co.nz's Stuff Travel.
The platform allows partners' audiences to discover, plan and book curated and relevant, once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences within their own ecosystem and under their own brand.
Following 266 per cent growth in its TAAS partners over the last 12 months, TRAVLR has also announced a new deal with BBC Global News's Discover Beyond platform, initially launching in Australia and New Zealand today.
"The travel industry is going through one of the most significant structural changes in a century, paving the way for new and innovative offerings," says TRAVLR co-founder and CEO Simon te Hennepe, who along with co-founder Lani te Hennepe is a former Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Award winner in the Tourism & Events and Technology categories.
"Our raise and launch of new partnerships with the likes of BBC Global News are evidence that the market sees the value for TRAVLR’s unique offering."
The group has achieved this success despite an environment where up to 60 per cent of the traditional travel industry has gone into administration during the pandemic, and with the world opening its doors again TRAVLR's management and investors believe the company is well positioned.
"The global opportunity for TRAVLR is huge. I see this having similar enterprise media tech characteristics as Unlockd (without the dependency on Google), which will enable us to reach and support tens of millions of travel hungry consumers," says Matt Berriman.
BBC Global News senior vice president for commercial development Asia & ANZ, Alistair McEwan, says establishing the Discover Beyond travel marketplace with TRAVLR opens up new and exciting opportunities for the media group's audience, providing them with unrivalled access to unique cultural adventures inspired by BBC Travel Journeys.
Simon Te Hennepe says the company's vision is to forever change the way people dream of, plan and experience travel.
"We want to enrich travel experiences like never before and after the last 18 months we’ve all had, the future of travel is more about the quality of the experience than just the size of the inflated discount," he says.
"The opportunity for global expansion is ripe and we are currently in discussions with media companies to launch platforms in open markets like the US and UK.
"Through these outstanding partners and our unprecedented audience access, our focus will be on providing global audiences with unique and unforgettable travel experiences."
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