WeTravel books $27M to build fintech and more for bespoke group travel • ZebethMedia

Travel is back on the radar for investment, with consumers and business users both on the move again after a long pandemic period of staying in one place. Today, a startup called WeTravel — which builds tech for the specific needs of group travel — has raised $27 million, money that it will be using to expand its business on the heels of strong growth in the last year.
The company provides payments and other tools to some 3,000 companies, working out to 500,000 customers using its platform. Transaction volumes have grown 30% and revenues currently sitting at 3X the level it was pre-Covid. And CEO and co-founder Johannes Koeppel said he believes those figures will double again in 2023 “as a conservative estimate.”
The Series B is being led by Left Lane Capital, with previous backers Swift Ventures and Base10 also participating alongside angel investors that include Victor Jacobsson, one of the co-founders of Klarna.
WeTravel had previously raised only $7 million in the 8 years since it was founded. We understand from sources that this Series B was made at a valuation of a little over $100 million.
The startup, fittingly, has done a little traveling of its own. Originally, Keoppel and his two co-founders Garib Mehdiyev (CTO), and Zaky Prabowo (CMO) had moved out from The Netherlands to the Bay Area to start the business, only to find it impossible to navigate the visa waters to bring engineers and other technical talent over, too. So in 2019, WeTravel’s three founders relocated back across the pond to The Netherlands. Covid put paid to the idea that a startup needs to have its team in one place, and today, the majority of the company’s business team and customers are in the U.S., and it’s incorporated there, while the three founders, as well as WeTravel’s product and engineering teams, are all in Amsterdam.
The gap in the market WeTravel is going after is one that seems to have been created, ironically, with the growth of online travel services.
In the old, pre-internet days, travel agents ruled the roost when it came to booking tickets and overall vacations for many consumers and businesses, both as individuals and groups. Online tools have changed the game for individuals, but interestingly the same doesn’t apply to groups that want to, say, book a multi-day trip or retreat that might involve several hotels, activities, and food, which can involve multiple people, multiple locations, potentially hundreds of suppliers (not just hotels and airlines, but restaurants, excursion operators, insurance providers and much more), and the need for flexible paying options — different people paying different amounts, payments in installments, and lump sum payments that in turn need to be itemized across different suppliers.
“The important piece is not so much about paying but what happens afterwards,” Keoppel said, “what the travel company has to do with these funds. A typical trip might cost $10 to the user, with the vast majority of that going to suppliers. It becomes about fund management. And more involved the trip, the larger the amount of suppliers from restaurants and transport companies to airlines and hotels and more.” On top of that there are wire fees and different payment methods business to business, country to country.
WeTravel’s platform covers two main parts of that process: helping those putting the group travel together to organize suppliers and plan everything; and then handling the different aspects of the payment process, whether that involves setting up payments in installments, or working with various currencies and payment methods, and paying out to different suppliers under their individual terms.
Keoppel describes the fintech side of the business as “the PayPal for travel” and says that it’s complex enough that companies like PayPal, Stripe and other big names in online payments haven’t really been able to address the particular segment of the market that WeTravel is serving, especially when used in tandem with the first part of its product set to coordinate itineraries and suppliers.
Keoppel believes this is a template we might be seeing more in the B2B fintech world. “My belief is that there will be in the next couple of years more specific SaaS platforms that integrate payments as component for specific industries,” he said. (Indeed, today you already have some addressing this for, say, beauty and wellness, with companies like Fresha, Boulevard and Style Seat building tools specifically for the needs of that vertical.)
This is also something that WeTravel’s customers also have sometimes tried but failed to build themselves. As travel agents have become “travel advisors” and focus on these bespoke travel experiences, some have turned, he said, to “custom-made systems they build themselves, but what I’ve realized is that what is lacking is the end customer experience. They don’t have the time to build the beautiful invoicing system plus payment methods, and all of the rest.”
One thing that WeTravel does not currently do is offer discovery to its users — that is, travel advisors might still turn to their little black books, or these days maybe TripAdvisor, Yelp, or other recommendation and discovery platforms, to find interesting restaurants and more. This is something that WeTravel could potentially move into as it grows.
`One significant elephant in the room is what happens when other big travel platforms consider how they might do more in this area: they already have all the big supplier relationships and it might be a matter of building or buying tools to meet this use case.
Vinny Pujji, who led the investment for Left Lane, recalled that his parents once ran a travel agency, “so this was a cool one for me to see,” he said. “You bump into sneaky big markets and this is absolutely one of them.”
He noted that the Covid winter that descended on travel does appear to be thawing, even in the current economic climate.
“The data tells us that travel is mostly back now,” he said. He points out thought that the company has grown 3x since 2019, underscoring that WeTravel in particular might have proven the axiom if a startup can make it through the pandemic, it can make it full stop. “Church groups, students, there are more stable revenue streams here than just destination bachelor parties.”

             Disclaimer: Any Product You Buy Here, Amazon Pays me A Commission With No Additional Fee.

 

This is a must Have Software For Your Home & Business. This software will help your business and make your job Stress Free.

Business and Office Management  Category.

(Old Version) H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State 2023 with Refund Bonus Offer (Amazon Exclusive) (PC/MAC Download)

(4265)

20% Off $49.99 $39.97 (as of November 22, 2024 06:14 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Choose to put your refund on an Amazon gift card and you can get a 2% bonus. One state program download included. State e-file sold separately. Reporting assistance on income from investments, stock options, home sales, and retirement Guidance on max... read more

Adobe Acrobat Pro | PDF Software | Convert, Edit, E-Sign, Protect | PC/Mac Online Code | Activation Required

(1101)

39% Off $239.88 $143.99 (as of November 22, 2024 05:37 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Create and edit PDFs. Collaborate with ease. E-sign documents and collect signatures. Get everything done in one app, wherever you go. Edit text and images without jumping to another app. E-sign documents or request e-signatures on any device. Recipi... read more

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2025 | Photo Editing | 3-Year Term License | PC/MAC | Box with Download Code | Activation Required

(17)

40% Off $99.99 $59.99 (as of November 22, 2024 05:37 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Remove objects with AI power. Create and control depth with AI. Change the color of any object. Seamlessly combine multiple pictures. Create with modern textures and graphics. Be creative with the web and mobile beta apps. Get a 3-year term license f... read more

Bitdefender Total Security 2024 – Complete Antivirus and Internet Security Suite – 5 Devices | 2 year Subscription | PC/Mac | Activation Code by Mail

(3511)

$74.99 (as of November 22, 2024 05:38 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

SPEED-OPTIMIZED, CROSS-PLATFORM PROTECTION: World-class antivirus security and cyber protection for Windows (Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11), Mac OS (macOS X Yosemite 10.10 or later), iOS (11.2 or later), and Android (5.0 or later... read more

CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO - Version 1 - Perpetual License - for Microsoft Windows and MacOS

(3062)

$23.99 (as of November 22, 2024 06:18 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Create original sketches using your mouse or draw naturally with a pen tablet. Powerful coloring tools make CLIP STUDIO PAINT your all-in-one illustration, painting, manga and comic creation solution. Use an assortment of powerful art tools for illus... read more

CodaKid Roblox Coding, Award-Winning, Coding for Kids, Ages 9+ with Online Mentoring Assistance, Learn Computer Programming and Code Fun Games with Lua and Video Game Programming Software (PC & Mac)

(333)

$59.00 (as of November 22, 2024 05:37 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

CodaKid’s Roblox Lua coding educational software provides 100+ hours of interactive student projects designed to engage and educate kids, teaching them to become creators in their own right. Students learn real Lua coding and video game design using ... read more

Code Python, Award-Winning STEM Courses, Coding for Kids, Ages 10+ with Online Mentoring Assistance, Learn Computer Programming and Code Amazing Games with Python (PC & Mac) (Box Art Varies)

(59)

$59.00 (as of November 22, 2024 06:19 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

CodaKid’s Python coding educational software provides 40 hours of interactive lessons designed to engage and educate kids, teaching them to become creators in their own right. Students learn real Python coding and video game design using the IDLE tex... read more

Coding for Kids: Learn to Code Minecraft Command Blocks - Video Game Design Coding - Computer Programming Courses, Ages 9+ (PC, Mac Compatible)

(33)

12% Off $39.95 $34.95 (as of November 22, 2024 05:43 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

✓ COMMAND BLOCKS MINECRAFT for all kids, not JUST GAMERS: Use command blocks inside your Minecraft games to create custom game play. You will be able to build an ice track, send a homing missle to a mob, sword, and much more! Gaming is a popular topi... read more

Coding for Kids with Minecraft - Ages 9+ Learn Real Computer Programming and Code Amazing Minecraft Mods with Java - Award-Winning Online Courses (PC & Mac) [registration_code]

(228)

$59.00 (as of November 22, 2024 05:37 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

CodaKid’s Minecraft Java coding educational software provides 90+ hours of interactive lessons designed to engage and educate kids, teaching them to become creators in their own right. Students learn real Java coding and video game design using the p... read more

Corel Easy CD & DVD Burning 2 | Disc Burner & Video Capture [PC Disc]

(1919)

$14.99 (as of November 22, 2024 05:37 GMT +00:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Easily copy and burn CDs and DVDs in minutes, right from your desktop; Preserve your photos, secure video backups, and create custom music CDs Capture or import your videos; Plus, author DVDs with chapters, menus and personalized disc labels Convert ... read more