Evaneos, a France-based online marketplace connecting travellers with travel agents in destination, has raised $21 million in funding.
The round, which is the company’s third and brings its total funding to $26m, has come from Serena Capital, Fonds Ambition Numerique (BPIFrance), ISAI and XAnge. ISAI and XAnge are believed to have participated in a Series B round for the company in 2014.
Evaneos plans to launch in further markets including the US. It is also seeking to more than double its headcount from 80 to 200.
The company, which started life in France in 2009, is now also available for English, German, Spanish and Italian speakers as well.
Evaneos says 40% of turnover comes from international markets, a figure it wants to double in the next four years by expanding its service starting with the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden by the end of 2016.
Yvan Wibaux, Evaneos co-founder and CTO, says:
“Our seven years of experience, and the data we have gathered over this period, allow us to develop tools that are increasingly efficient and innovative. With this funding round, we will be able to invest more rapidly in quality and user experience, the ease of communication between travellers and local agents, and the development of new technological features to benefit our travellers, such as launching the website as a mobile application.
“We will also continue to develop our SAAS platform, which brings together the biggest community of local agents in the world. Our objective has always been to build the world’s leading multi-day tour marketplace, and I think there’s a real opportunity here for us to become the digital category leader.”
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