Paris-based Evaneos, an online platform that aims to make travel a source of positive impact, announced on Tuesday that it has raised €20M in a fresh round of funding to accelerate growth in Europe.
The company provides a web platform that connects travellers with local agents to design, estimate the cost and book personalised trips.
Investors supporting Evaneos
The round saw participation from Evaneos’ current investors Partech, Level Equity, Quadrille Capital, XAnge, Serena Capital, and Bpifrance via the Ambition Numérique Fund. This funding is in addition to the €100M raised by Evaneos since the company’s creation
Bruno Crémel, General Partner at Partech, says, “Evaneos is paving the way for the future of tourism by offering sustainable trips with local impact to as many travellers as possible. We are proud to contribute to accelerating the company’s development through this investment. Evaneos is emerging from the covid crisis with a profitable business model, a completely overhauled technology platform, and a new way of thinking about travel.”
Evaneos says it saw substantial growth in 2022 with four times larger turnover than in 2021. The company also claims that its ethical marketplace approach, which pairs visitors with regional experts to create custom itineraries, is outperforming competitors in the market.
Capital utilisation
Evaneos says it will use the funds for growth across all its current markets, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The company mentions that it will also enhance its tech capabilities, investing heavily in customer experience and agency network tools. Evaneos will also hire to strengthen its R&D team, which makes up 40 per cent of Evaneos’ workforce.
According to co-founders Yvan Wibaux and Eric la Bonnardière, “More than half a million travellers have already placed their trust in Evaneos. We can also include our investors, who have supported us during our years of strong growth, during the crisis and now in the recovery phase of our business.”
“Today we’re working to bring Evaneos to new audiences and to deepen our connection with all our stakeholders: investors, employees, travellers, and partners. It’s most important for us to work together, as we shake up an industry that needs to rethink the way it operates,” they say.
A unique model for better travel
Founded in 2009 by Yvan Wibaux and Eric La Bonnardière, Evaneos is an online platform dedicated to making travel a source of positive impact. The company puts travellers directly in contact with local experts in order to craft trips that respect local cultures and communities. Currently, Evaneos works with more than 600 local partners across 160 locations.
The company says that the relationship between tourists and local agents is at the core of its business concept. With 87 per cent of the cost of each journey going to local performers and small companies in the location, profits directly support regional economies.
Additionally, when a trip is purchased, a portion of the funds go to the Better Trips fund, which was established to lessen the negative consequences of travel, including the reduction of CO2 emissions through approved initiatives, and to promote constructive industry change. Initiatives include supporting local agencies to obtain sustainable tourism certifications and promoting female entrepreneurship.
In June 2022, Evaneos became the first B Corp-certified tourism company, affirming its aim to help transform the industry and offer travellers a more responsible and sustainable way to explore the world.
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