London, UK-based luxury travel marketplace operator Secret Escapes has acquired Berlin startup JustBook, German media reported this morning. I reached out to JustBook co-founder Stefan Menden, who confirmed the news but declined to disclose the deal terms.
Secret Escapes, which has raised approximately $13 million in funding from the likes of Atlas Venture and Index Ventures, will take over 100% of JustBook, with all its 25 employees and 3 co-founders staying on board.
JustBook, which is coincidentally also financially backed by Index Ventures, launched in January 2012, initially focused on same-day hotel bookings à la HotelTonight and Hot.
Recently, the Berlin startup expanded to offer deals on hotels in more than 120 cities across Europe and the United States via their smartphone apps and website.
An official Lufthansa Miles & More partner, JustBook raised a little over 3 million euros in funding from Index Ventures, DN Capital and business angels.
JustBook will likely disappear as a separate brand and service soon.
Update: according to an official press release, Secret Escapes' membership base has grown to over four million members in the UK alone. With the acquisition of JustBook, the company wants to make a bigger push into Germany this year.
On a sidenote: this is the third acquisition of a Berlin startup (after Plista and Localstream) this year, and we're only two weeks into 2014.
Featured image credit: Benjamin Haas / Shutterstock
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