Travel firm Skyscanner secures major investment

Edinburgh-based travel search engine, Skyscanner, has secured £128 million ($192 million) from seven global investors, including Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and existing investor Yahoo! Japan, which was already a strategic partner for Skyscanner in Japan.

All five new investors have acquired an undisclosed share of Skyscanner.

Skyscanner said in a statement the fresh funding “will support the company’s strategy and accelerate its rapid growth in the £332 billion online travel market”.

He said the financing round and recent new hires allowed the company to build further tools for travellers.

Other new investors include Baillie Gifford investment house in Edinburgh, London-based Artemis Ventures, Scottish Equity Partners, and private equity fund specialising in technology and operating out of London, Munich and Stockholm, Vitruvian Partners. JAPAN – now join Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) and Sequoia as Skyscanner’s investment partners.

The company said its new investors will also providing access to “additional sources of expertise and different virtual and geographic marketplaces around the world”.

Skyscanner’s $1.6bn valuation means that the company’s worth has doubled since October 2013, when Sequoia invested.

Catering for 30 languages, Skyscanner now includes searches for auto rental and hotels on its platform, with 1,200 business partners on board. The site is now used by 50 million people every month, but it also faces a long list of competitors around the world, including Kayak, Expedia, and Chinese companies Qunar and Ctrip.

It certainly seems the hallowed “unicorn” $1bn valuation that many high-growth companies lust after is much more attainable now: the United Kingdom has produced almost 20 unicorns since 2000 according to GP Bullhound.

Skyscanner now operates worldwide with offices in the UK, Singapore, Beijing, Shenzhen, Miami, Barcelona, Sofia and Budapest.