Sequoia, Fosun Kinzon invest $15m in India travel site Ixigo

The new capital will be used to improve Ixigo’s technology offering, in particular its recently launched online personal travel assistant Ixibaba. The company also plans to expand brand awareness and strengthen its development team to take advantage of the country’s ongoing boom in mobile internet usage.

“Ixigo has been leading from the front on mobile with nearly 80% of our users and 68% of our transactions now originating on smartphones,” said Ixigo CEO and co-founder Aloke Bajpal. “Our vision is to empower every Indian traveler with trustworthy & personalized travel recommendations, and we are fortunate to partner with Sequoia Capital and Fosun International Kinzon Capital to work towards that vision.”

Ixigo was founded in 2007 and received seed funding from BAF Spectrum the following year. In 2011, SAIF Partners and online travel agent MakeMyTrip invested $18.5 million in the company, buying out BAF’s stake.

Originally launched as a search engine for travel agencies, Ixigo now provides a platform for over 25,000 travel agents and hospitality businesses to connect with travelers. It aggregates prices and availability for flights, trains, buses, cabs and hotels, along with travel packages.

According to a release, this is Fosun’s first VC investment in India, though the firm also backed Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Gland Pharma from KKR last year. In addition, Fosun International recently agreed to a strategic partnership with Indian VC firm Iron Pillar for co-investments in India’s consumer and enterprise technology spaces.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Early-stage
• India
• TMT
• Fosun Group
• Sequoia Capital
• Venture