Corporate travel and
expense management platform TripActions may be one of the brightest brands in
these relatively dark days for the travel industry.
Today the company
announced it has raised $125 million in debt financing convertible at IPO, led by
Greenoaks Capital with participation from Vista Credit Partners. Terms of the
deal and the timeline for an IPO have not been disclosed.
This latest
funding, coupled with up to $500 million in debt facility announced in February and the
balance of its earlier $480 million in equity financing (about half of that has
not been spent according to the company) now gives TripActions “$350 million in
the bank to weather COVID-19 while accelerating our investment in R&D and
expanding enterprise sales.”
Specifically, TripActions says it will use this funding to accelerate investments in its TripActions
Liquid payment and expense solution that launched in February and to expand
global enterprise sales and its European operations.
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In the past
three months – as the coronavirus began to impact markets around the globe –
TripActions says it has added 265 new customers, including three large enterprise
customers. The value of its travel budget under management annually has grown
from $2.3 billion to $2.8 billion during that same period.
“We made the investment
in TripActions because of the strength of their vision, leadership team and
cloud-based business model that continue to deliver the real-time data that
enterprise leaders need to make business decisions that not only protect their
travelers but save money to help spur business and economic recovery,” says Neil
Mehta, partner at Greenoaks Capital.
In late May, TripActions launched
several new tools and functions to help travel managers and individual
travelers assess safety measures and minimize costs as they prepare for
business travel to resume. Last week it expanded its European operations with
the hiring of a senior vice president of sales for EMEA.
“The winners in the
travel and expense industry will be those who can pivot, adapt and drive rapid
innovation in support of their customers,” says David Flannery, president of Vista Credit Partners.
“Since the onset of
COVID-19, that’s exactly what we’ve seen and come to expect from the very best
cloud-based enterprise tech companies like TripActions - and why we’re pleased
to invest in them and their future.
But the company has also
made cutbacks – laying off 300 employees, about 25% of its work force – in mid-March.
“TripActions is well-positioned to seize the massive market opportunity in front of us as the number
one corporate travel and expense platform with the best online booking tool,
travel agency service and expense platform - all from a single trusted
partner,” says Ariel Cohen, TripActions co-founder and CEO.
“With our mission-driven
culture focused on customer success and the support of Greenoaks, Vista and
our existing investors, we will emerge from COVID-19 stronger than ever as the
clear travel and expense management leader.”