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Omio Raises $100 Million With Eye on Travel Market Recovery

Omio Raises $100 Million With Eye on Travel Market Recovery

Booking platform Omio raised $100 million to help it fund deal-making and a return to growth in the decimated travel industry.

Investors including Kinnevik AB, Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., New Enterprise Associates Inc. and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers took part in the fundraising, in what the company called a “clear sign of market recovery.” Roughly one-third of the money came from new investors, Chief Financial Officer Jan Kemper said in a phone interview.

Kemper joined Omio from ProSiebensat.1 Media SE last year following a reported strategy conflict with the German broadcaster’s Chief Executive Officer Max Conze.

The coronavirus pandemic wiped out 95% of Omio’s revenue within the first few weeks of lockdowns, said Kemper. The company said it has since partially recovered to more than 50% of pre-Covid bookings.

Some of Omio’s new funds -- structured as a convertible loan -- will be spent on M&A, Kemper said. The Berlin-based platform expanded beyond Europe last year with the acquisition of Melbourne-based travel aggregator Rome2rio and has opened for business in the U.S.

Omio is “very interested” in the potential of the South American and Southeast Asian markets, said Kemper.

The new capital will also be used for sustainability -- it’s looking at allowing customers to search for the greenest travel option, or gauge the carbon footprint of trips, he added.

Around 90% of Omio’s staff were put on furlough because of the pandemic and it’s now working toward getting them back to the office in stages.

When Omio, formerly known as GoEuro Corp., raised $150 million from investors in 2018, the company was valued at between $900 million and $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said at the time. The company gave no valuation figure for the latest funding round.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.