Klook banks $200m to bolster its merchant SaaS offering

Hong Kong-based travel firm Klook said it has secured US$200 million in a series E round led by Asia Pacific-focused fund Aspex Management.

Other undisclosed new investors, as well as existing backers Sequoia Capital China, Softbank Vision Fund 1, Matrix Partners China, and Boyu Capital also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Klook’s co-founders / Photo credit: Klook

Founded in 2014, Klook operates a booking platform for travel and leisure experiences worldwide. The company said it has over 100,000 offerings in more than 400 destinations.

During the past year, Klook said it re-prioritized its core strategies to tackle the impact of Covid-19 on the travel industry. The startup said it focused on two major areas: digitizing the booking of travel experiences and launching new verticals such as staycations and car rentals.

Klook also claims that at the height of the pandemic, it onboarded 150% more activities compared to the same period last year. It aims to continue the momentum by using the new capital for the development and roll-out of its merchant software-as-a-service solutions.

The company shared that markets where movement restrictions have been eased, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, have witnessed increased spending on local experiences, with bookings reaching near pre-Covid levels.

“We’ve observed over the past year that consumers have a pent-up desire to explore and enjoy themselves, despite international travel being paused,” said Klook co-founder and CEO Ethan Lin. “Instead, they are turning inwards – exploring new and unique experiences right in their backyard.”

Another traveltech major, Indonesia’s Traveloka, had previously shared the same observations, with the company saying that its transaction numbers in Vietnam and Thailand have reached nearly the same numbers it had been hitting before the pandemic, thanks to a boost in domestic travel.

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