Tourlane, founded in 2015, has booked trips for 100,000 individuals so far, with the last year being five times stronger than its last year before Covid-19. The company makes a commission on services it sells, but does not disclose how much. Sequoia Capital, which has had success with investments in Airbnb, Skyscanner, Klook, and Kayak, becomes Tourlane’s largest outside investor with this latest round. Other participants in the Series D include Target Global, Jared Smith, co-founder of Qualtrics, and HV Capital.
Key takeaways:
- Berlin-based travel startup Tourlane has raised €25 million ($26 million) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital. The funds will be used to expand its tech, double down on AI, and potentially expand to more origination markets beyond France and Germany.
- Tourlane is focusing on integrating more generative AI into its service, aiming to provide more intuitive help to users and optimize the process of finding the best travel options. However, the company does not plan to fully replace human agents.
- Despite being nearly a decade old and having booked trips for 100,000 individuals, Tourlane's customer base is relatively small compared to the global number of travelers. However, the company's growth has been accelerating, with the last year being five times stronger than its last year before Covid-19.
- Sequoia Capital, which has had successful investments in the travel industry including Airbnb and Skyscanner, has become Tourlane's largest outside investor with this latest funding round.