Idinvest Partners is making an investment in Secret Escapes, the exclusive members only travel club.
Following the USD60 million Series C fundraising closed by the company during the summer of 2015, Idinvest Partners has decided to join some of the most successful international venture firms (including Google Ventures, Octopus Ventures, Index Ventures,) by taking a minority stake in the company. As a result, Guillaume Durao, Investment Director at Idinvest Partners will be joining Secret Escapes’ board of directors as an observer.
Secret Escapes joins Onfido on the list of successful London-based startups recently backed by Idinvest Partners. Historically associated to most of the success stories of the French digital ecosystem (Sigfox, Withings, Criteo, Dailymotion, Deezer, etc.), Idinvest Partners is now one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe with recent investments including Kantox (Spain), Nosto (Finland), Peakon (Denmark) and Financefox (Germany)
Launched in London in 2011 by Alex Saint and Tom Valentine, Secret Escapes runs flash sales of 4 and 5 star hotels and holidays worldwide at up to 70 per cent discount.
Secret Escapes is active in 13 countries, attracts over 25 million subscribers and replicating their success in the UK market. The company has taken leading positions in Germany, Sweden and Poland and also recently started to see significant traction in the US as well as signing fruitful partnerships with Jetsetter and Gilt.
“Secret Escapes is simply one of the most promising digital companies in Europe right now. It has proven in the UK that it could build a massive, loyal, discerning and profitable base of customers in a very short time. Given the company’s execution capabilities, its ambition and level of funding, Idinvest is confident that it can do the same in other European countries and even in the US and in Asia where Secret Escapes has started to build the appropriate supply of hotels. We are convinced that Secret Escapes can become a global multi-billion turnover business in the coming years and the place for smart consumers looking to book their holidays. So when we had the opportunity to partner with the company, especially as they have an increasing interest in France, it was a no brainer for us,” says Guillaume Durao, Investment Director at Idinvest.
Secret Escapes Co-Founder and CEO, Alex Saint, adds: “We’re hugely excited about the position that we’ve carved for ourselves in Europe and more recently in the US. Our already proven model is really starting to benefit from some excellent economies of scale as we expand in to more territories. 2016 is set to be another year of aggressive growth and we’re delighted to have Idinvest around the table with us.”
