Battery Ventures, Sequoia Capital invest USD15 mn in Travelguru

Mumbai, Dec 1 (UNI) Travelguru, India's leading online travel portal, has received a fresh infusion of capital commitment to the tune of USD15 million from Battery Ventures and Sequoia Capital India.

Announcing this today, Travelguru's statement said this tranche of investment in Travelguru by two globally renowned venture capital firms marks a significant milestone in the online travel space and is billed as the largest investment in one single round in the consumer internet space in India.

This signifies the growing confidence of global investors in Travelguru's strong performance and market leadership in the high growth Indian travel market. The second round of funding will help in building retail initiatives to support online growth.

Commenting on the investment, Mr Ashwin Damera, CEO and Founder, Travelguru said, ''Our focus on delivering superior consumer experience through cutting edge technology, breadth of product offerings and best value travel deals has yielded great results to all our stakeholders. The second round of funding from Battery Ventures and Sequoia Capital reaffirms the growing confidence in Travelguru's team and leadership position in the Indian travel and tourism industry.'' ''The new round of investments will help us strengthen our reach through delivering retail experience to our consumer base as well as in making continued investments to maintain our high level of customer satisfaction and service,'' added Mr Damera.

''Given our experience in technology in general and consumer internet specifically, we selectively look for companies with a few key ingredients - companies that address large markets, have very strong leadership, and have shown they can deliver innovative offerings as well as execute on sales and marketing. In a short span of time, Ashwin and his team have established a distinct identity for Travelguru in the online travel space in India,'' according to Mark Sherman, General Partner, Battery Ventures.

''The growing consumer base and the leadership status of being the largest hotel consolidator in the Indian online travel market highlight the unique position of Travelguru. We are very excited to be partnering with Ashwin and the team to continue to innovate and build the leading online travel company in India,'' says KP Balaraj, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India.

The travel portal has very aggressive plans for marketing and brand building in the coming months. In the past one year, Travelguru has grown to become the largest hotel consolidator in India, with access to more than 72,000 hotels worldwide and alliances with 500 airlines globally, and a leading consumer brand in the travel market.

With a slew of promotional and strategic initiatives planned in the months ahead, the user base of Travelguru is set to grow by over 30 per cent month by month.

UNI SN GB VKG2056