Moscow-based online travel agency Onetwotrip.com has raised $3 million from Bank Saint Peterburg, the Russian business daily Vedomosti learned last week from company CEO Mikhail Sokolov.
The company had previoulsy raised significant amounts from Swedish fund Vostok New Ventures — $4 million in 2015, $2.5 million in H1 2016, and $5.8 million agreed in December 2106.
A major Russian bank, Bank Saint Peterburg recently announced the launch of a corporate venture fund and a ‘VC Lab.’
Onetwotrip launched in 2011 with pioneering features. These included an intelligent search system of prices, flight options and routes; statistics of the flight delays for every particular destination/airline; information on airplane model and age as well as on distances between the seats.
In 2012, the startup raised $9 million from Phenomen Ventures, a fund with Russian roots, and $16 million from Atomico. The UK fund hailed the site as “the most efficient, elegant and innovative travel service not only in Russia, but anywhere in the world.”
Falling valuation
In early 2015, Goldman Sachs invested $8 million in the company. An investor with knowledge of the company told the Russian media that Onetwotrip’s valuation at that time amounted to “several hundreds of million dollars.”
Since then, the valuation has decreased considerably. The deal agreed in late 2016 with Vostok New Ventures valued the company at just $82.9 million — which the Swedish fund considered to be “a very attractive price,” according to a corporate report cited by Vedomosti.
In 2013, Onetwotrip’s founder Peter Kutis announced IPO plans “for 2014,” but market slowdown and deteriorated international climate obviously prevented him to reach this goal.
In 2015 Sokolov replaced Kurtis as CEO.
The company, which initially focused on flight booking, has diversified its offer toward hotel booking, car rentals, and train ticket booking. Its services are now available globally in English, German, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian languages, both online and via mobile apps..
