Mobile Tourism Service Yikuaiqu Nets Millions of Dollars in Series A Financing

Yikuaiqu, a tourism app, announced that it has raised millions of dollars in Series A financing led by Shenzhen Hight-tech Investment and followed by Shenzhen Capital Group, etc. The company has secured millions of yuan of angel investment in 2012. The capital will be used in research and development of its travel applications for scenic spots, said Liang Jiankun, CTO of the company.

Yikuaiqu is an online travel service provider with core technologies for scenic spot navigation, e-tickets, and augmented reality. It is the attraction data provider for AutoNavi, Baidu LBS Cloud, Baidu OpenMap, etc.

The startup’s core product is Yikuaiqu App, a tourism mobile application based on augmented reality, which organizes enormous travel information and provides a search engine for China’s tourist attractions.

The company’s product portfolio also covers a tourism social networking service Pengyou (web and app), a ticket reservation service (app and WeChat account) that helps travelers to book e-tickets for nearby attractions at discount prices, a tourism navigation app Scenic Sport Helper, and a plug-in for UC’s Zhaoshenbian.

The company claimed to provide navigation service for more than 1,000 attractions countrywide. In addition to provide free apps, Yikuaiqu also planned to embed their services in the apps, web apps and WeChat accounts of its partners, Liang added.

In order to commercialize the service, Yikuaiqu has established cooperation with major domestic OTA, offering online e-ticket reservation service to more than 4,850 scenic spots, said Xu Min, operating head of the company.

image credit: Yikuaiqu