Alibaba and Line lead KKday’s latest funding round

Photo credit: KKday

KKday has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a series B-plus round led by Alibaba’s Entrepreneurs Fund and Line Ventures.

Taipei-based KKday, which provides an online platform for booking holiday tours and activities, said the strategic investment would help it to “leverage innovative technologies in travel bookings and experiences” and boost its global expansion plans.

Specifically, it’s targeting further growth of its Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean operations, as well as launches in Australasia, Europe, and the US.

The deal with KKday will enable Line to offer a new feature called Line Travel to its Taiwanese users. This in-app service will allow users to search for and book flights, hotels, and activities. They’ll also be able to use the feature to share their travel itineraries with fellow Line users.

KKday is already collaborating with Alibaba following an earlier investment from the Entrepreneur Fund in July. As part of that deal, the Taiwanese startup launched an online store on Alibaba’s Chinese travel portal, Fliggy.

KKday raised US$10.5 million in its February series B round led by Japanese travel firm HIS. It raked in approximately US$11.5 million across series A and series A-plus rounds back in 2016 from investors including AppWorks, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Mindworks Ventures, Cathay Venture, Substance Capital, and 91Capital.

Hong Kong-based Klook is a key regional rival for KKday, while further afield it faces competition from the likes of Headout and Peek in the US, and Culture Trip and GetYourGuide in Europe.