Travel technology company Holidu has raised €5m in its latest funding round, including €4m from former Booking.com CEO Kees Koolen.
Vacation rental metasearch Holidu is a price comparison specialist that allows users to browse millions of listings in key markets worldwide.
The funding followed a period of accelerated growth for Holidu. The company said that it had turned profitable in May and since then generated seven-digit positive Ebita figures.
In July more than 27 million users visited the Holidu website, resulting in a 2.6 times growth in year-on-year bookings and more than €130m of newly-generated bookings that month.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is reshuffling the cards in the travel industry and Holidu is clearly one of the winners of the accelerated trend towards alternative accommodation”, said Kees Koolen. “Over the five years I’ve been working with Holidu, my confidence in the team has only grown. On top of that, the entire company is centred around data and technology in a way that is unmatched in the industry.”
Michael Siebers, co-founder and CTO at Holidu added: “We’re thrilled to have Kees’s investment and his continued advice and support as board member. The funding will help us to seize the many opportunities for growth ahead and we want to be prepared for any future scenario.”
Headquartered in Munich, Holidu now has a team of more than 200 people and closed its €40m Series C round led by Prime Ventures in 2019. Koolen has been an active board member in Holidu since 2016, both during his time as partner at EQT Ventures and later in his role as advisor to EQT Ventures.