Battery Ventures

Global technology investment firm Battery Ventures leads Series D funding round; General Partner Itzik Parnafes joins GetYourGuide Board of Directors

BERLIN, Nov. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GetYourGuide, the largest online booking platform for travel activities, today announced it has closed a $75 million Series D funding round led by Battery Ventures, a global technology-focused investment firm. Battery Ventures is joined in the funding round by all of GetYourGuide's existing venture partners, including KKR, Spark Capital, Highland Europe, Sunstone Capital and Nokia Growth Partners (NGP). The new capital will be applied toward international expansion and technological development as GetYourGuide strengthens its position as the global market leader for tours, activities and attractions.

The funding comes at a time of unprecedented momentum for GetYourGuide, which this summer crossed the threshold of 10 million tickets booked, with nearly half of those booked in 2017 alone. The in-destination activities segment of the global tourism industry, which now represents a $135 billion market and accounts for 10 percent of global leisure travel revenue, is growing at a similar clip: recent estimates project that the global market for tours and activities will reach $183 billion by 2020, and that online bookings within the segment will more than double from 2015 levels. 1

"We are experiencing explosive growth this year and have stepped up to become the largest online booking platform for travel activities," said Johannes Reck, CEO of GetYourGuide. "It's our goal to significantly disrupt the in-destination travel experience in the years ahead, and the financing we've raised from both new and existing investors represents a vote of confidence in our progress toward capturing the massive market opportunity before us."

As part of Battery Ventures' lead investment in the funding round, GetYourGuide's Board of Directors has been strengthened with the addition of General Partner Itzik Parnafes. An Israeli-born entrepreneur and investor, Parnafes brings a decade of experience in advising technology-focused businesses across a diverse array of industries.

"The company has already made significant progress in carving out a large and high-profile niche in the European travel market," said Parnafes. "I'm looking forward to working closely with the Board to support its efforts to capitalize on what I think is a very exciting segment of global tourism."

GetYourGuide is the latest addition to Battery's portfolio of travel software, experience and marketplace companies, which it has built over the past decade and a half across the U.S. and Europe.

About GetYourGuide

As the largest online booking platform for travel activities, GetYourGuide powers access to more than 31,000 tours, activities and attractions in upwards of 7,300 destinations around the world. From Skip-the-Line tickets to the Eiffel Tower to shark diving in Cape Town, GetYourGuide offers things to do for every traveller, both on its own site and in partnership with premier travel brands worldwide. Headquartered in Berlin, GetYourGuide employs more than 400 people across its offices in 11 countries. For additional information about GetYourGuide, please visit the company's website at www.getyourguide.com .

About Battery Ventures

Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, Web infrastructure, consumer Internet, mobile and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to private equity and invests globally from offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Tel Aviv and London. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit www.battery.com  and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here .

Press Contact

Will Gluckin

GetYourGuide

+49 176 7112 0875

will.gluckin@getyourguide.com

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1 Source: Phocuswright, "Tours & Activities Come of Age: The Global Travel Activities Marketplace 2014-2020 " 2017