Financing will also support further development of Aviasales’ corporate travel service and Travelpayouts, a leading global platform for automated affiliate marketing.
MOSCOW – Elbrus Capital Fund III and iTech Fund II invested $43 million in Aviasales, one of the world’s leading travel metasearch platforms with a monthly audience exceeding 15 million users. The funds will be used to launch new products and accelerate growth across international and domestic markets. Financing will also support further development of Aviasales’ corporate travel service and Travelpayouts, a leading global platform for automated affiliate marketing.
"Despite all of the difficulties caused by the pandemic, and despite its significant negative impact on the economy in general and on the travel sector in particular, Aviasales is performing well above its pre-pandemic levels. Thanks to its strong business model the company finished 2020 in the black and is aggressively and profitably gaining market share in 2021. We’ve never stopped investing in our team and product development so that we can strengthen our position as the “go to” website for everything travel – from inspiration to booking. There’s still lots of work to be done in our core business, which is the powerful flight search engine, but we’re also keen to expand our non-flight revenue streams. said Max Kraynov, CEO of Aviasales.
"We are glad to have a strong and reliable financial partner with an extensive experience of successful investments," says Gleb Davidyuk, Managing Partner of iTech Capital group of funds. "It’s now clear that the travel industry can survive even in the most turbulent conditions. The availability of free capital and an experienced management team from Aviasales will significantly strengthen the brand across local and international markets. It is a perfect time to invest; the recovery of the industry and a number of new products from Aviasales establishes a strong foundation for our ambitious growth plans and business development."
"The Russian flights and travel market is one of the largest in Europe and is strongly rebounding after the COVID-19 crisis" says Dmitri Krukov, Senior Partner of Elbrus Capital Funds, commenting on the transaction. "Over the past several years Aviasales’ management have built a strong digital platform that serves as the starting point for millions of travellers in Russia and CIS countries. The company has one of the most recognizable and appealing brands in the Russian travel market and our team believes in its strong potential for further growth driven by new product development and regional expansion."
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
