Sequoia Capital China led Klook’s latest funding round, with participation from existing investors Matrix Partners and Welight Capital

Hong Kong-based booking platform for attractions, tours, and activities Klook today announced that it has raised a US$30 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital China.

The company’s existing investors such as Matrix Partners and Welight Capital also participated in the current round.

Klook plans to use the new funding to further its global expansion efforts, by broadening its scope of operations “beyond Asia.”

“We recently expanded into Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East before that. We have just started launching in Europe and the US and also intend to tackle more unique destinations like North Korea soon,” said KLOOK regional marketing lead Marcus Yong in an email to e27.

The company also expands its offering to include in-destination services such as Wi-Fi services or local transfers.

“We are proud of our achievements in the attractions, tours and activities segment, and now we are expanding the spectrum of our in-destination offers,” said Klook COO & Co-Founder Eric Gnock Fah in a press statement.

“After seeing great results in our newly launched local transfer & Wi-Fi vertical, we are enthusiastically diving deeper into the in-destination ecosystem to offer a wider array of services, from dining and wellness experiences to shopping deals, for travelers to enjoy wherever they go,” he further explained.

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The company is also launching its presence in Singapore, where there is a rising demand for free and independent travels (FIT) in the market, indicated by decreasing participants in travel fair events and traditional tour packages.

It said to have received warm welcome from various segments of travellers, including retirees.

“While majority of our users are young adults, we have seen an increasing share of older travellers approach us at events or even online via Facebook messenger to help them get started on Klook to save time and money,” said Yong.

The company even got their name mentioned in a dramatic true story about an elderly cleaner and her friends whose dream holiday to Japan was ruined by the sudden closing of a travel agency.

Founded in late 2014 by Ethan Lin, Eric Gnock Fah, and Bernie Xiaokang Xiong, Klook has presence in eight offices across Asia. Armed with over 200 employees, the company said that its platform covers “over” 80 popular destinations in Asia and beyond, with “more than” 10,000 attractions, tours, and activities on board.

In 2016, Klook claimed to have clocked-in five million trips on its platform, and the company expected that with the addition of new destinations in the platform, the trip number will increase rapidly this year.

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“Over the past two years, we’ve been tirelessly reinventing the supply chain and innovating our UI to create a seamless booking experience for millions of users. Now with a few clicks or taps, the travel services you need and the activities you seek will all be at your fingertips,” said Lin.

Some of the awards the company has won including Best Internet & Communications Technology Startup by
the Hong Kong Government in 2015, and the Future Commerce Award hosted by Digitimes in 2016. Its mobile app has also been awarded “Best of 2015” by Apple and “Best App of the Year” by Google Play.

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