Booking Holdings invests in corporate travel tech provider Serko

New Zealand-based travel and expense technology company Serko is planning a NZ$45 million ($28.7 million) capital raise to accelerate the global presence of its online travel platform Zeno, with Booking Holdings as the cornerstone partner.

Booking Holdings is investing NZ$17.5 million ($11.2 million), resulting in a 4.7% stake in Serko.

The deal expands previous agreements by allowing Booking.com to offer and promote Serko Zeno to its business travel customers.

As part of the new agreement, Serko will integrate Booking.com content into Zeno.

Serko attributes the capital raise to Zeno’s growing market share among online booking tools for high-profile corporations, and industry recognitions such as the BTN Innovate People’s Choice award.

Darrin Grafton, CEO of Serko, says the partnership with Booking Holdings “will deliver simplicity and compliance to corporate travelers while making our resellers more profitable.

“The Serko and Booking.com agreement will accelerate our journey toward our vision of seamless corporate travel and expanding outside of Australasia.”

The company is using the capital to expand Zeno’s presence in North America and Europe, and to increase offerings for Serko’s travel management company partners.

This is not the first time that Booking Holdings has invested in the region, with previous stakes in Ctrip ($1.3 billion invested over many periods), South Korean hotel website Yanolja ($180 million invested in 2019), and many others.

Says Ripsy Bandourian, vice president of partnerships at Booking.com: “We are excited to be expanding our agreement with Serko, as our vision about making business travel frictionless for both travelers and travel managers alike is very much aligned with Serko’s, and we’re looking forward to working together in bringing this solution to customers and partners outside of Australasia.”