TourRadar has secured USD50 million in a Series C funding round led by TCV with participation from existing investors Cherry Ventures, Endeit Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Speedinvest.
TCV is one of the largest providers of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry and has backed industry-leading companies including Airbnb, Expedia, HomeAway, Netflix, SiteMinder, Spotify, Vice, and Zillow.
In connection with the funding, Erik Blachford, a venture partner at TCV, has joined TourRadar’s supervisory board. Blachford was previously President and CEO of IAC Travel, managing all of IAC’s travel assets including Expedia, Hotels.com, and Hotwire.
TourRadar intends to use the funding to expand its team globally and will be investing in the technology platform to provide a personalised user experience for customers in new and existing source markets across the globe.
TourRadar markets multi-day tour and river cruising experiences provided by more than 600 operators across Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to serving large, well-known operators such as G Adventures, Contiki, and Collette, TourRadar also works closely with hundreds of specialty operators that otherwise rely on local agents and word of mouth. TourRadar supports operator partners in various ways, including offering instant bookability and tour review functionality, participating in large campaigns such as World Touring Day, and being a part of the Guide of the Year and Tour of the Year awards.
Founded in 2010, TourRadar has grown rapidly by providing consumers with easy access to the fast-growing multi-day tour category, with a total addressable market value estimated at USD55 billion. Travellers of all ages are increasingly seeking authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences when they travel, and TourRadar offers more than 25,000 tours in 200 countries on its platform. Customers can search by categories, geographies, prices and providers; compare tour particulars; and book the tours of their choice. Providers get access to TourRadar’s marketing and booking platform, which also facilitates communication between consumers and operators after booking.
TourRadar was founded by brothers Travis and Shawn Pittman, both native Australians. Travis, an engineer, is TourRadar’s Vienna-based CEO. Shawn, the company’s CFO, came from a successful career in investing. Both are avid travellers with many countries on their travel résumés, and a vision of connecting people to life-enriching travel experiences through multi-day touring.
“The experience and knowledge in the online travel sector that Erik Blachford and TCV bring to the table is exactly what we were looking for as we embark on this exciting next chapter at TourRadar,” says Travis Pittman, CEO and co-founder at TourRadar. “This stage will well and truly bring our vision to life and we’re excited to do this with their guidance.”
“Multi-day tours are the last frontier in online travel,” says Erik Blachford, a venture partner at TCV and former CEO at Expedia. “TourRadar has staked a claim, and I am looking forward to helping Travis and the team realize their vision.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Travis and the TourRadar team,” said John Doran, general partner at TCV. “We have been continually impressed with their unrivalled passion for travel and their vision to inspire the global travel community with the most convenient way to access the broadest choice of authentic multi-day tours across the world. We are delighted that Erik Blachford will join the board and look forward to supporting the entire team as they continue to build their business.”
Since inception in 1995, TCV has invested over USD10 Billion in more than 240 technology leaders. Over the past six years, TCV has invested more than USD900 million into leading technology companies headquartered in Europe. TourRadar is TCV’s first portfolio company in Austria.
