Bangalore-based iTraveller Tours Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates travel marketplace iTraveller.com, has raised $1 million in funding from ah! Ventures, Lets Venture, and Mantra Ventures, a senior executive of the company told Techcircle.in.
The funds will be invested in technology and marketing, with increased focus on mobile devices and enhanced user engagement across the value chain.
"With this fundraise, our singular focus is to achieve scale. We want to become the largest tech-enabled platform for holidays in the country, with an ambitious target of one billion dollar transactions in five years from now," said Shiju Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of iTraveller. “The idea is to inculcate the culture of online discovery and planning, leading to transactions, which translates to a technology driven marketplace model."
"The team has identified scalable technology solutions to address the gap in the travel space and we are sure that our investment will enable the company to expand its reach and use the solution to extend its’ services to a larger audienceâ€, added Vishal Gupta, managing director, Mantra Ventures. iTraveller is Mantra's first investment in travel technology space. It has previously invested in startups in the healthcare, real estate and telecom sector.
The start up was founded in 2011 by Radhakrishnan, Chitra Parija (head- operations) and Prashant George Varghese (head- online marketing). Before starting iTraveller, Radhakrishnan has worked at companies like WIPRO, Cognizant and Ashok Leyland; while Chitra was part of the operations management at Bharatmatrimony.com; and Prashant was the director of Deltastar General Trading LLC.
While Radhakrishnan has done his MBA from SP Jain, Mumbai, Chitra holds a B.Com degree from Anna University. Varghese did his PG in marketing and finance from T. A. Pai, Management Institute.
iTraveller functions as a marketplace for holidays, where travellers can discover, plan and book their trips. They can completely customise their trips online. On the supply side, iTraveller aggregates native wholesale suppliers who are responsible for the operational aspects of the business that includes ground handling and fulfilment.
Using the platform, travellers can choose their destinations, discover hotels and transfers, compare reviews, as well as plan their activities and sightseeing for their trips. It claims to have facilitated over two lakh trips so far featuring over 20 travel destinations across the globe.