Level.Travel, a Russian platform for searching and booking tours online, has raised $6 million from Moscow-based PE/VC giant Baring Vostok, in exchange for a minority stake. Previous investor Guard Capital, a Moscow-based VC, is keeping its stake in the company’s capital.
No further details of the deal were disclosed.
Founded ten years ago by Dmitry Malyutin, Ellin Tolstov, Pavel Glushenkov and Evgeny Ginzburg, Level.Travel has developed a range of tech features. The company claims it was “the first on the market to create a real-time tour search technology,” integrating tour operators’ systems with its own content database. This technology allows tourists to choose and buy tours from any major tour operator online without intermediaries.
Among the other tech features is a “dynamic bundling technology” that allows customers to “instantly create [their own] package tours” made of “a variety of flight and accommodation options.”
Level.Travel says its technological platform has been used to launch tour sales by Euroset, Kayak, MegaFon, OneTwoTrip, Svyaznoy, TripAdvisor, Yandex and others.
“The focus on digitalization of the massive travel market segment through technological development has provided us with double-digit business growth for several years. In the new post-pandemic reality, technology has become even more important in our market,” said Dmitry Malyutin, CEO and co-founder of Level.Travel in a statement.
Baring Vostok’s capital injection will help Level.Travel develop further its technological platform – including fintech and marketing functions – and its business.
Commenting on the deal, Baring Vostok Partner Maxim Loginov said: “Despite the fact that the pandemic and restrictive measures have had an impact on the travel market, we are confident in the significant growth of the traveltech segment in the medium to long term. According to Ipsos Comcon, 66% of Russians prefer to travel by tours. Of those, 80% are willing to choose tours online. The online share of the Russian travel market is only 7%, but the market is rapidly digitalizing. We are sure that Level.Travel, as the leader of this market with the most advanced technologies, will be at the forefront of the transformation and further growth of the market”.
