Mumbai-based online travel portal Cleartrip has raised $40 million from Nasdaq-listed Concur Technologies, which has acquired a minority stake for the investment. This is the single largest private investment in an Indian online travel startup till date.
With the latest round of funding, Cleartrip has so far raised a total of $60.2 million since its inception in 2004, probably making it the highest funded online travel startup in the country. Its previous investors, venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures, DAG Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), remain invested. The deal also comes attached with a strategic marketing partnership with Concur. The Redmond-headquartered company manages the travel and expense reporting needs of over 15 million business travelers globally and will tap into the Indian market through the Cleartrip association.
Cleartrip was founded in 2004 by Hrush Bhatt, Stuart Crighton and Mathew Spacie and the portal went live in 2006. It raised a $3.7 million Series A round from Kleiner and Sherpalo in early 2006 and followed up with a $8 million Series B from DAG Ventures, Kleiner and Sherpalo. In 2008 it raised a $18.5 million Series C round led by DFJ, which invested $10 million. The remainder came from Mumbai-based Mahindra Group and Cleartrip’s existing investors. The company’s financials are not publicly stated but Medianama reports its gross revenues at $12.39 million for the year ended March 31, 2010, quoting a Director’s Report filed by Cleartrip with the Registrar of Companies.
The other leading online travel startups in the market currently include Makemytrip, Yatra and Via. All three have been heavily funded by venture capital investors over multiple rounds. Gurgaon-based Makemytrip, which went public last year, had raised a reported $38 million from investors such as SAIF Partners, Helion Venture Partners, Tiger Fund and Sierra Ventures. Mumbai-based Yatra has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Reliance Venture, TV18 and Intel Capital. Via, based in Bangalore, is backed by Indo-US Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, who have invested $15 million in the company. It is now reportedly in the market to raise $100 million. Sequoia along with Battery Ventures had earlier also invested $25 million in Mumbai-based Travelguru which was acquired by Travelocity in late 2009.
The Travelguru acquisition set the pace for consolidation in the online travel segment. The entry of global players such as Expedia and the imminent entry of others has made it a fiercely competitive segment. Given the prevailing environment, Cleartrip could not have landed the $40 million windfall from Concur at a better time.
What others are saying about the deal
- US company invests $40 million in Cleartrip (Mint)
- Concur buys $40 million stake in Indian travel portal (Reuters)
- Concur partners wih, invests $40 million in India’s Cleartrip (Techcrunch)
Image Courtesy: Cleartrip





