TripIt, the intelligent personal travel assistant, has received $5.1 million in Series B financing from three significant investors: Sabre Holdings, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and European Founders Fund. The investment will be used to expand development, marketing and support for the rapidly growing number of travelers who rely on TripIt.
TripIt is an online travel organizer and social network to help people manage their travel plans and stay in touch with fellow travelers, colleagues and family. In its first six months, TripIt has been honored at the TechCrunch40, Web2.0 Summit LaunchPad, and Under The Radar conferences, is currently a 2008 Webby Award Nominee, and has been praised by a range of media including the Associated Press, CNN, Economist, FOX, New York Times, Sunday Times (UK), and Wall Street Journal.
O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV) is increasing its initial investment in TripIt after providing the company’s $1 million first-round of financing in 2007. OATV is in the business of funding innovative technology companies, including Chumby, OpenAds and Wesabe.
"TripIt exemplifies a new breed of web services that help us manage our personal data," commented Tim O’Reilly of OATV. "I'm especially enthusiastic about TripIt because it adds a new level of integration between email and the Web. We have so many overlapping applications, and the next frontier is getting them to work better together."
European Founders Fund (EFF) is a German investment group led by the Samwer brothers who are responsible for some of the most successful Internet companies in Europe, including alando (acquired by eBay) and Jamba! (acquired by VeriSign/Newscorp). The Samwer brothers have also invested in leading U.S. technology companies including Facebook and LinkedIn.
“We look forward to helping TripIt expand globally,” commented Oliver Samwer, European Founders Fund. “The diverse European travel market is ideally suited for a service like TripIt that helps organize travel plans made across multiple travel suppliers.”
“We couldn’t have asked for a stronger or more strategic group of investors, which include a highly respected visionary on the future of the Web, leading European technology investors, and one of the largest travel companies in the world,” commented Gregg Brockway, TripIt co-founder and president. “This puts TripIt in a strong position to significantly enhance our services and establish a global footprint to help more travelers around the world.”
Vicky Karantzavelou - Monday, April 21, 2008