Korean travel app secures $36m funding round
MyRealTrip, a South Korean travel super app that positions itself as a one-stop-shop for bookings, has raised KRW43.2 billion ($36 million) in funding from the likes of Altos Ventures, IMM Investment, and Axiom Asia.
Altos and IMM have now participated in four consecutive funding rounds for the company. Another investor, local early-stage specialist Smilegate Investment – previously known as MVP Venture Capital – has been involved for five. Other backers include New Investment Bank of Korea, Patek Partners of France, and US-based Tekton Ventures.
The latest investment takes MyRealTrip’s overall funding to KRW82.4 billion. According to AVCJ Research, the most recent round closed at KRW17 billion in January 2019, with participation from Altos, IBK Capital, IMM, Mirae Asset Capital, and Smilegate. However, MyRealTrip said it received KRW10 billion earlier this year from Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KTFC).
The start-up is part of a government unicorn pipeline program – administered by KTFC – intended to address a perceived lack of growth-stage funding in Korea. It was one of 14 companies selected at the end of last year to share in a pot of KRW77.5 billion. Others include online wedding planning platform Wedding Book and online education player Riiid. The latter closed a $41.8 million pre-Series D round last week.
MyRealTrip was established in 2012 as a guided tour service. Over the next six years it introduced train and airline ticket booking and hotel reservations, with package tours joining the product roster in 2019. The company claims to have served 7.6 million travelers since inception, sold 23,200 tour and travel tickets in 780 cities, and racked up nearly 870,000 reviews.
Dong-gun Lee, the company’s founder, said in a statement that domestic sales have grown fourfold as a result of COVID-19. With international travel not an option, MyRealTrip is focusing on its local offering, with more than 2,000 domestic tours available.
Recent innovations include indirect travel experiences, whereby participants dial into videoconference calls and receive real-time commentary on what they are seeing on their screens from experienced tour guides. These tours take in London’s National Gallery, Southern Italy, and Madrid’s Prado Museum. There are plans to add locations in Scotland, the US, and Asia.
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