Barcelona-based TravelPerk kicked off 2025 by buying expense management platform Yokoy following a US$200m ( AU$325m) equity raise.
TravelPerk is a corporate travel agency focused on small and mid-tier businesses in the US and Europe. Members – including Red Bull and Aesop – can book and manage their travel expenses through the tech firm.
TravelPerk says that, due to increased expense regulation within corporate firms, there is a growing need for technology that aligns travel costs with other expenses.
TravelPerk is currently spearheading its US expansion. In June last year, it also acquired leading US travel management firm AmTrav (lead image).
The deal is the first venture capital deal in travel tech announced this year, however, it is very unlikely to be the last.
According to Skift, investment banks have approximately US$300 billion (AU$487 billion) they want to deploy in the tech sector. Travel, a rapidly growing market with plenty of old systems – has been identified as being ripe for investment.
ACG Partners has estimated that there were 180 M&A deals in travel tech last year – roughly one-third of all tech deals. This was up from 77 in 2021.
The bulk of the deals were in the B2B space with consolidation largely being the name of the game.
The private equity interest is a sign that the travel market is reaching maturity, Laurence Tosi, who is managing partner and founder of WestCap said.
“Private equity hasn’t really paid a lot of attention to travel much at all for a long time. I think it’s a sign of maturity within a market when you see private equity coming in.”
Some of the largest travel tech companies based in Australia include Traveltek Australia, Aeronology, and Campstay.
In November last year, the newly-appointed chairman of The Travel Corporation (TTC), told Travel Weekly that updating IT systems and M&A is a big focus for private equity firm Apollo in 2025.
“Apollo is, is an owner with very deep pockets, and it wants to grow the business both by investing in what we already own – investing in the brands we have, the IT and the systems that we have, and the people we have – but also through M&A: we want to grow the business substantially over the next few years.”
Beyond Borders: Katrina Barry, Adam Schwab and Katrina Konstas on travel and tech
