TravelPerk raises $160m as business travel returns

Barcelona-based business travel startup TravelPerk wasn’t planning on raising a $160m Series D round this early into the year. But the investment community had other ideas.

“We actually weren’t going to raise now, we thought to wait until the end of the year,” says founder and chief executive Avi Meir.

“[But] smart investors are looking for Covid winners and they want to bet ahead of the curve. So the timing was kind of pushed by the market.

The round, led by Greyhound Capital with participation from existing investors, was prompted by the business community’s eagerness to get travelling again, according to Meir.

He points to the strong return of domestic flights in the US, which he says have rebounded to 75% of pre-Covid levels.