Former CEOs of Booking.com and Qunar.com lead $4.5 million investment round in GetYourGuide

BERLIN, Jan. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- GetYourGuide, the world's largest online platform for tours and activities, today announced a strategic $4.5 million Series A extension round led by Kees Koolen, former CEO of Booking.com, and Fritz Demopoulos, founder and former CEO of Qunar.com. Sunstone Capital, a European venture capital firm, also participated in the capital increase. Along with their investments, Koolen and Demopoulos bring a wealth of expertise to GetYourGuide's board, where they serve as independent directors.

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The new investment caps off a tremendous year of growth for the company. GetYourGuide has grown to become the world's largest platform for tours, attractions and activities, offering over 23,700 activities in over 2,250 destinations.

"We're thrilled to have such industry all-stars as Kees and Fritz investing in our company and lending their immense expertise to our board," said GetYourGuide CEO Johannes Reck. "Kees and Fritz know what it takes to build a global company that understands and services the need of the customer well. This is an important strategic step on our journey towards success."

Over the last decade, Kees Koolen and Fritz Demopoulos have built some of the world's biggest online travel businesses. As Booking.com's former CEO (and current Chairman), Koolen oversaw Booking.com's transformation, during his tenure the company grew from a small Dutch start-up to the world leader in hotel reservations. Since 2012, Koolen has served as an advisor to Uber to help the company scale globally.

Fritz Demopoulos is the co-founder and former CEO of Qunar, the world's largest Chinese-language online travel information provider, with over 75 million monthly unique visitors. Qunar went public on the NASDAQ in 2013.

"The global market for travel activities is enormous. In the next years, we will see this market shifting towards online and mobile bookings, similar to what happened in the hotel market over the last decade," said Kees Koolen. "GetYourGuide's growth path is incredibly impressive. This is a global scale opportunity."

About GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide connects people with more than 23,000 things to do all over the world so they discover more and research less. On GetYourGuide.com, travelers can find everything from historic walking tours to skip-the-line Eiffel tower passes, tickets to sporting events and shows, and even entries to museums and attractions. GetYourGuide's offices are in Berlin, Las Vegas, and Zurich. For more information about GetYourGuide, please visit www.getyourguide.com.

PR Contact:
Nikola Gunther
GetYourGuide
Phone: +49 (0) 171 2930 680
Email: [email protected]

Lee Glandorf
InkHouse for GetYourGuide
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 781-966-4145

SOURCE GetYourGuide