Who said travel content sites were dead in an age dominated by large players such as TripAdvisor and long-standing niche sites already in the market?
Clearly not those willing to pump in $80 million in a Series B investment round to Culture Trip.
The U.K.-based company has raised the money from a string of investors led by PPF Group, bringing its total to-date to around $100 million.
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Other backers include the Barbe and Gornell families, alongside individuals Richard Lampert, Wim Bushell and Sarah Allen.
The company says the funding is being used to add a number of senior hires to its executive team, a product redesign, marketing and, crucially, the introduction of online travel agency-style booking services to the site.
Money-making services
The brainchild of psychiatrist Belgian Kris Naudts, Culture Trip is planning to launch the OTA within the site in the second quarter of this year.
Initially targeting travelers who are looking for accommodation, Culture Trip will include a full search and booking service as part of the site.
The content and availability will be provided by software and distribution service Digital Trip but Culture Trip will handle all customer service and be the merchant of record.
The idea is not throw in hundreds of thousands of properties, traditional OTA-style - instead, it will hand-pick properties that "fit the overall Culture Trip message and ethos."
The site had previously had an affiliate deal with Hotels.com, based mostly on links contained listicle-type travel guide pieces.
Talent on-board
The ambitious company has recruited Mike Fox (ex-Facebook director marketing) as chief marketing officer, joining Dick Soule who joins as chief revenue officer after an earlier stint as global head of sales at YouTube.
The board of directors now includes Nelson Mattos (ex-vice president of engineering for EMEA at Google) and fellow Googler Yariv Adan who worked as a product lead on Google Assistant.
Naudts says: "I started Culture Trip with the ambition of applying my long-standing passion for global culture and creativity to building a tech company that could innovate in this space.
"With this game-changing investment, Culture Trip is focused on improving the current user experience and value proposition, with the aim of building a leading, global consumer brand that will disrupt the media and travel industries through its creative content and tech."