Myrealtrip It is the latest travel technology company to ride the growing tourism industry post-pandemic. The Seoul-based startup said today that it has raised $56.7 million (75.6 billion KRW) in a Series F funding round to accelerate its business, product innovation and increase employment.
Global tourism rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2023 Recently, the United Nations World Tourism Organization a report. Travel technology companies are once again poised to accelerate their business expansion.
“The travel industry was fragmented 12 years ago in South Korea, and there was no platform that provided travel information,” Myrealtrip CEO Donggun Lee said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch. Now the 12-year-old company, which has 7.9 million users in South Korea, aims to be a super app in the travel industry, offering travel booking services, from flights, accommodation, activities to local transportation.
The company has partnered with approximately 2,000 travel agencies, hotel platforms and airfare comparison providers such as Expedia, Agoda and Viator to enable travelers to book service tours, activities, restaurants, local transportation, hotels and Airbnb-like accommodations globally.
Its valuation has increased three-fold since its last equity financing, Series D, in 2020, Lee told TechCrunch, without providing a specific number. The company’s valuation was estimated at more than 200 billion KRW in 2020, according to previous media.
Lee also said that Myrealtrip has seen its revenue triple since 2022. The company recorded a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $746 million (1 trillion KRW) in 2023. It aims to double its gross merchandise volume and achieve EBITDA. Worth 12 million dollars. He referred me this year.
Image credits: Myrealtrip
Like most travel companies, the Korean startup has faced challenges during the pandemic lockdown. The company says it can survive on the capital it took in 2020 and debt financing in 2022 to prepare for the post-pandemic phase.
“Myrealtrip has prioritized domestic tourism and launched new features such as group trip or business travel to survive the challenging last two years,” Li said.
The company has not only expanded domestic tourism, but also made several strategic acquisitions and investments. I got Myrealtrip starttrip In 2022 to capture the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea after the epidemic. This travel platform allows users to discover and book K-pop themed places, including the filming locations of BTS’s famous music videos. Lee said it plans to operate Startrip as a separate entity to enhance its services with advanced technology.
Myrealtrip also invested in IwaTrip, a Korean travel platform that helps users find available places to travel with kids, and O-Peace, a co-working and co-living platform designed for digital nomads.
Technology will be key to long-term success in attracting inbound and outbound travel users as well as foreign tourists to take on rivals like SoftBank-backed Klook, which raised $210 million last month; Yanolia. Agoda; And Airbnb.
The company, which uses AI-powered chatbots for customer services, will invest more in technology, including AI capabilities, ahead of its planned IPO in 2026, Lee said.
Returning investors BlueRun Ventures Korea and IMM Investment co-led the round, bringing the total raised to approximately $113 million (150 billion KRW) in equity and $39 million in debt since its inception in 2012. New investors Korelya Capital, marks the first investment In South Korea, Vanderbilt University Endowment Fund and its previous backers, including Altos Ventures, Partech Partners, Smilegate and SV Investment, also joined the Series F.
The number of the company’s employees to date is 300.