Investors valued the startup at $900 million in its latest funding round.
Flyr, a travel startup that provides software to companies including JetBlue Airways Corp., has raised $295 million in equity and debt in a new funding round.
The deal, led by WestCap, values the startup at $900 million, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Other investors included BlackRock funds, Streamlined Ventures and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The financing represents $225 in equity and $70 million in debt, and brings the startup’s total investment haul to $500 million.
Chief Executive Officer Alex Mans said he believes there’s an opportunity to upgrade the technology most often used by travel companies. “Monopoly legacy vendors have stifled innovation,” he said. Mans also said that the company plans to buy up other startups. “We did six acquisitions in the last 24 months,” he said, “definitely keeping our ear to the ground to see if there are other opportunities on the horizon.”
With the latest funding, Flyr is adding WestCap Managing Partner Laurence Tosi to its board. Tosi was previously the chief financial officer of Airbnb Inc. and has made several investments in the travel industry since leaving the startup.
While Airbnb has had a bruising week on Wall Street, Tosi said travel is an underappreciated industry. “The travel market is about 11% of global GDP,” he said. Tosi also praised the quick growth at Flyr, which said it has nearly quadrupled its annual run rate revenue in the last 12 months. “They’ve gotten to scale faster than probably we even thought they would,” he said.
Written by: Katie Roof @Bloomberg
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