Amsterdam-based WeTravel bags €27M to expand its travel-specific fintech suite 

San-Francisco and Amsterdam-headquartered WeTravel, a booking and payments platform for multi-day and group travel companies, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $27M (approximately €27M) in a Series B round of funding led by Left Lane Capital. 

Existing investors Base10 Partners, Swift Ventures, and several high-profile angel investors also participated in the round. The Series B round brings WeTravel’s total capital raised to $34M (approximately €34M).

WeTravel says it will use the funds to expand its travel-specific fintech solutions.

How was WeTravel born?

WeTravel was founded in 2016 by Johannes Koeppel (CEO), Garib Mehdiyev (CTO), and Zaky Prabowo (CMO).

The idea for the platform came to Koeppel while working for The Red Cross and encountering small communities that were only accessible to visitors through locally-based travel businesses. 

He experienced how disjointed and archaic the booking and payment processes were, causing missed and delayed payments, often sent by cheque, to vendors. 

In addition, the communication methods used by these businesses often fell short of making itineraries and other logistics clear to their customers.

Koeppal believed technology could better the system and help local businesses and communities increase revenue and drive traffic to their trips.

Thus WeTravel was born!

WeTravel: What you need to know

Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company aims to support travel businesses by digitising and simplifying the travel booking process, from itinerary building to trip management. 

The company merges SaaS and fintech solutions to handle the needs of multi-day travel businesses’ booking and payments in one platform.

“Over the past six years, we’ve developed an intuitive and accessible booking management software built for multi-day travel businesses,” says Koeppel. 

He adds, “From creating stand-alone or integrated trip pages—with travel features and functionality—to collecting and handling traveller information to transacting with travellers and suppliers across the globe, in an instant, WeTravel’s platform has made it possible for any travel business to not only operate a business but to be a successful travel business owner.”

WeTravel also offers a subscription product in the form of a Pro account that offers enhanced features and benefits for a monthly fee. The additional features include “catered account management, API access, and WeTravel payment processing as low as 1 per cent per transaction.”

Currently, the platform is used by more than 3,000 travel companies to transact with nearly 500,000 travellers and thousands of suppliers annually. 

“To extend our platform’s capabilities for users, we’ll be investing in multi-day travel businesses to engage, transact and retain their stakeholders and increase revenue,” says Koeppel. “What this platform extension means is an opportunity for travel businesses to access the necessary booking and payment options to help grow their travel business.”

Investor

Based out of New York, Left Lane Capital is a global venture capital firm that invests in high-growth internet and consumer technology companies. The VC’s previous investments include GoStudent, Masterworks, M1 Finance, Tovala, FightCamp, Wayflyer, Blank Street, and more.

“Despite unprecedented headwinds in the peak of Covid, WeTravel’s team has focused for years on solving extremely complex problems for multi-day travel operators. The result is best-in-class booking and payment technology for this underserved group. We couldn’t be more honoured to partner with such humble and dedicated founders,” says Vinny Pujji, Left Lane Capital’s managing partner.

Base10 is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund that invests in founders who believe purpose is key and companies automating Real Economy sectors, including transportation, healthcare, retail, logistics, and construction. Portfolio companies include Notion, Figma, FTX, Nubank, Nowports, Motive, Chili Piper, and Popmenu.

“Since leading Series A, we’ve been so impressed by WeTravel’s continued growth and resiliency in a difficult travel market environment. The future is bright for this team, and we’re excited to double down and support their vision to revolutionise the day-to-day workflow of a multi-day tour operator,” says Rexhi Dollaku, Base10’s partner.