Friday, 12 September 2025
28.6 C
Singapore
33 C
Thailand
28.9 C
Indonesia
28.6 C
Philippines

SoftBank bets on Asia’s travel market with US$$225M investment in Klook

Hong Kong-based travel services booking platform, Klook, announced earlier today that it has secured US$225 million in a series D+ round, adding up to its total Series D round at US$425 million. This new round of funding will give the company the firepower to compete with rivals in Asia’s fast-growing activities booking market. The deal […]

Hong Kong-based travel services booking platform, Klook, announced earlier today that it has secured US$225 million in a series D+ round, adding up to its total Series D round at US$425 million.

This new round of funding will give the company the firepower to compete with rivals in Asia’s fast-growing activities booking market. The deal which is described as a “Series D+” came just eight months after Klook announced its US$200 million Series D at a valuation of over US$1 billion.

Founded in 2014, the company offers online booking services for local tours and other activities, a fast-growing segment of the travel industry that has yet to be dominated by the major online travel agents. Klook claims to provide 100,000 activities across more than 270 destinations. Its team has grown to over 1,000 staff with 20 offices, including sites in Europe and the States.

This global market is projected to grow nearly 50% from 2015 to be worth US$183 billion in 2020, according to Phocuswright.

The company also claims that this round is the most massive investment in the travel services industry and it intends to use the investment to scale its operations geographically and continue growing its business in its existing markets in Asia. One key focus is in Japan, where the company will increase its investments in Tokyo, in anticipation of the 2020 Summer Olympics.

This new round means that Klook has now raised a total of US$425 million. Its investors include Sequoia China, Matrix Partners, Goldman Sachs, OurCrowd, Boyu Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) among others.

Hot this week

Sony showcases connected media ecosystem at IBC 2025

Sony highlights advanced media production tools and sustainable innovation at IBC 2025, showcasing AI, cloud, and virtual production.

Meta improves threaded posts on Threads with clearer design

Meta is updating Threads with clearer thread labels, numbered posts, and new layout tools to improve user experience.

Firefox introduces shake to summarise feature on iPhones

Firefox launches a new “shake to summarise” feature on iPhones, offering AI-powered webpage summaries starting in the US.

Reddit tests in-app article reading with new publisher tools

Reddit is testing in-app article reading with new analytics and AI tools for publishers, aiming to boost content sharing and engagement.

NetApp launches StorageGRID 12.0 to accelerate AI workloads and boost data security

NetApp introduces StorageGRID 12.0 with faster AI performance, simplified management, and stronger security for unstructured data.

AMD executive says AI is underhyped and still in its early stages

AMD’s Jack Huynh says AI is underhyped, with AMD working on innovations not yet invented and set to reveal more at CES 2026.

Cisco unveils agentic AI-powered Splunk Observability for real-time insights

Cisco introduces agentic AI-powered Splunk Observability, providing enterprises with real-time insights and stronger digital resilience.

Agora expands OpenAI partnership to strengthen conversational AI offerings

Agora expands its partnership with OpenAI, integrating the Realtime API into its platform to power more natural multimodal conversational AI.

Reddit tests in-app article reading with new publisher tools

Reddit is testing in-app article reading with new analytics and AI tools for publishers, aiming to boost content sharing and engagement.

Related Articles

Popular Categories