Thai travel tech startup Tourkrub is raising USD 5 million in a Series B funding round led by King Power Click, the digital arm of travel retail group King Power International Group. Other investors participating in this funding round are SMEs Private Equity Trust Fund by the Government Savings Bank of Thailand, the third lot which is managed by Premier Advisory Group, Tao Kae Noi by Itthipat Preeradechapan, and 500 TukTuks.
Founded in 2016, Tourkrub is an online leisure and corporate travel company that offers a wide selection of packaged tours, private group tours, and corporate incentives for outbound travelers. Users can find, compare, and book tours to more than 35 destinations around the world via Tourkrub’s website and app. The firm said it will utilize its fresh capital to push its regional expansion.
In an official press statement, Tourkrub’s co-founder and CEO Jakapan Leeathiwat said that the number of Thais traveling overseas has been increasing every year. Outbound tourism has been expanding over the past six years with 8.8% annual growth. According to data from the Thai Immigration Bureau, the number of outbound travelers had reached the highest at 13 million last year, up 10% from the year before. Group tours alone contributed a share of around 25% of Thai outbound travelers, with 10.2% growth on average last year.
According to Leeathiwat, around 40,000 users booked a tour service via Tourkrub in 2019, up 53% compared to the previous year. Transactional billing was valued at more than THB 1 billion (USD 32 million) last year, which increased by 33% over the previous year.
This funding round followed a USD 3 million round that the company had raised in September 2018. King Power International also led Tourkrub’s Series A funding, according to Crunchbase.
The firm is targeting 100,000 customers by the end of this year, which will be worth more than THB 2.5 billion (USD 80 million) in transactions.