SoftBank To Take Part In Investment Round For GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide, the German startup that lets people find and book travel tours based on a catalog of more than 35,000 activities, may have raised €500 million in venture funding.

According to a report citing a German blog, the funding included participation from SoftBank. The startup garnered a valuation of €1.6 billion in the round, which reports say is not finalized as of yet. A spokesperson for GetYourGuide told reporters that the German blog report had inaccuracies in it and that it didn’t seek any comment from GetYourGuide. The spokesperson wouldn’t say what facts it is disputing, only saying it can’t comment further. Reporters translated that to mean details of the funding round are not finalized. SoftBank didn’t dispute the funding in an email to reporters but declined to comment. SoftBank is reportedly making the investment via its Vision Fund.

If the funding round is finalized it would be a big increase in its funding ability, given the company has raised $170 million to date. It would mark the second-largest investment on the part of SoftBank into a European company. SoftBank just made a $1 billion investment in Wirecard, the German payments company. GetYourGuide raised $75 million in a Series D round of funding back in 2017. At the time it had sold more than 10 million tickets. Since 2009 GetYourGuide has sold around 25 million tickets, with significant acceleration coming since 2017.

As it stands GetYourGuide has had an advantage because it is focused solely on activity booking. That makes it less of an afterthought for users. It’s not clear if the company will use the new round of funding to branch into new directions in an effort to grow. The company has also benefited from the success of Airbnb, which has led to investor interest in startups in the travel marketplace. Selina, the startup that operates a network of work/living accommodations around the globe, raised $100 million in venture funding last week, giving it a valuation of $850 million, noted reports.