In a second major funding deal within one week, the Japanese behemoth SoftBank has just poured $500 million in Berlin-based travel startup GetYourGuide. The deal values the startup at €1.6 billion, according to a report by Deutsche Startups.
GetYourGuide has told TechCrunch, however, that the report is “inaccurate” without offering a further explanation. SoftBank hasn't publicly commented on the story.
GetYourGuide has built a platform for the booking of different activities, from tours and excursions to things like cooking classes, as well as tickets to tourist attractions. Over the period from 2009 to 2018, the company had sold some 15 million tours; however, it only took 10 months to sell the next 10 million. Excluding the current round, the company has raised more than $170 million so far.
The fact that GetYourGuide was in talks with SoftBank and other investors including Singapore's Temasek Holdings was first reported back in March, though the amount of funding had been estimated at $300 million.
The news about the funding comes less than a week after SoftBank invested €900 million in another German company, the publicly traded payment provider Wirecard.
In the photo, left to right: GetYourGuide executives Emil Martinsek, Johannes Reck, Tao Tao, Eva Glanzer, Josef Gatzek, and Udi Nir.
The story was updated at 09:08 CET on April 29, 2019, with a comment — or rather lack thereof — by GetYourGuide and SoftBank.
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