Target Global, a Berlin-based international venture fund with Russian roots, led a $21 million series B round for Barcelona-based business travel platform TravelPerk. Another leading investor in the round was London-based Felix Capital.
The news was announced last week by the startup .
The round also involved existing investors, including Boston-based Spark Capital, European VC firms Sunstone and LocalGlobe, and investment company Amplo.
The funding, which will be used “to rapidly scale all facets of the business and expand globally with offices in 3-5 new countries by 2019,” brings the total raised by the company to date to $30 million.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Avi Meir and CPO Javier Suarez, TravelTrek touts itself “the next-generation business travel booking and management platform for companies of any size.” It has been ranked among the fastest-growing SaaS companies in Europe this year. The startup claims to have its revenue grow “at a rate of 1,200% year-on-year” and boasts of “over 1,000 customers,” including Typeform, TransferWise, Outfittery, GetYourGuide, GoCardless, Hotjar, and CityJet.
Explaining the fund’s decision, Target Global General Partner Shmuel Chafets said that the startup, which “is very well positioned to be a market leader in the business travel space,” “is winning a highly fragmented [$1.25 trillion] market,” which is “a key investment thesis of Target Global.”
“TravelPerk is our first investment in Barcelona. We believe in a pan-European startup ecosystem and we look forward to seeing more opportunities in this emerging startup hub,” he added.
Illustrating the internationalization of Russian venture activity, Target Global has grown into an international VC firm with over $500 million in assets under management, with offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv, San Francisco and Moscow. Since 2012, the firm has invested in more than 40 leading companies including Delivery Hero, Blue Apron, Dreamlines, Prosper, Juno, VATBox, Blackmoon, DocPlanner, WeFox, Lemoncat, Auto1 and many others.
