A hyper-growth platform for business travel management is set to invest heavily in the UK following a $104 million round of investment.
Barcelona-headquartered TravelPerk already employs more than 300 people in the UK – representing around a quarter of its workforce – with offices in London and Birmingham, and an engineering hub in Edinburgh.
The growth here has been achieved both through the acquisition of Click Travel in 2021 and organic investment.
“The UK business travel market has huge potential, both in the currently managed segment but also in the largely unpenetrated SMB segment, the majority of which is unmanaged today,” CFO Roy Hefer tells BusinessCloud.
“This was one of the key drivers for the hugely successful strategic acquisition of Click Travel.
“Overall, we have invested over £100m in the UK in the past three years. We’re looking to continue to invest heavily in the UK as part of a plan to build the #1 SaaS business travel platform for SMB and mid-tier companies.”
The additional $104m investment values TravelPerk at $1.4 billion and was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 with significant participation from existing investors, including Kinnevik and Felix Capital. The round is an extension of the Series D-1 raised in January 2022, led by General Catalyst.
Stephen Thorne, investment director for SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join the TravelPerk board of directors.
“Our UK offices will see a material increase in talent acquisition this year as we are currently looking to grow our global headcount by 15% in the next six months – over 100 of those roles could be UK-based,” Hefer reveals.
“The UK has always been one of our biggest markets for business travel spend, both from companies based in the UK and companies based abroad visiting the UK to do business.
“Business trips to the UK booked on our platform in 2023 are up 73% year over year, and London is the top global destination for business trips overall.”
In 2023, the company grew revenue by over 70% year-over-year, gross profit increased by more than 90% year-over-year, and annualised booking volumes approached $2 billion.
Avi Meir, CEO and co-founder, added: “I’m delighted that SoftBank has backed that vision, and that our existing investors continue to support our responsible and thoughtful approach to long-term growth. This latest investment comes during a time when the winning tech companies are separating from the pack, and it further validates our investors’ commitment to our vision and strategy.
“We are also incredibly grateful to our team of more than 1,200 employees who together enable us to achieve such rapid growth and success. We’ll continue to grow our workforce as we scale our presence across the US and Europe.”