In yet another expansion into new markets, Alibaba launched Alitrip (or Qu’a (去啊) in Chinese) in late October. Like the e-commerce giant’s other market places, Alitrip is a platform for travel agencies big and small to set up online storefronts. Vendors on Alitrip have the same resources as Taobao and Tmall retailers, such as Alipay […]
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Qunar Joins Ongoing Open Platform Fight
Chinese online travel company Qunar launched a new cloud-based open platform recently, opening its data, access, resources, supply chain, customers, and capital to the entire travel industry. In terms of capital support, Qunar announced that it will provide a combined RMB1 billion (around US$161 million) incubation funding for projects under the platform. “We will offer RMB500,000 […]
Chinese Travel Search Qunar Follows $15mn Series B Financing for Taxi-hailing App GrabTaxi
Chinese travel search Qunar (NYSE:QUNR) announced today it followed the $15 million Series B financing for GrabTaxi, a Singapore-based taxi-calling app targeting at Southeast Asia market. The round is led by GGV Capital with participation from existing investor Vertex Venture Holdings, which just invested an undisclosed amount of Series A financing a few months earlier. GrabTaxi is now operating in […]
UK-based Travel Search Engine Skyscanner Acquires Chinese Travel Price Comparison Site Youbibi
UK-based travel search service Skyscanner announced today acquisition of Youbibi, a Chinese travel price comparison site, for undisclosed terms. Launched in 2003, Skyscanner now offers search service in more than 30 languages. It’s one of the biggest travel search engines in Europe, with 25 million monthly unique visitors and 30 million mobile app installs, according […]
Korean Online Travel Site Zaiseoul Taps Already-crowded Chinese Outbound Tourism Industry with Localized Services
Chinese online travelling sites focused on overseas tourism services are going to face fiercer competition in an already-crowded market, as their foreign counterparts are poised to take a bite of the cake. Started as a travel magazine offering monthly insights to Chinese backpackers to South Korea, Zaiseoul is an online travelling site providing tourism services to Chinese […]
Ctrip Invests $200 million in LY.com, Becoming Its Second Largest Shareholder
China’s leading online travel service Ctrip announced today it has invested more than USD200 million in cash in LY.com, one of its competitors, becoming the second largest shareholder in the latter. It’s undisclosed what a percentage Ctrip has taken in LY, but rumor says it’s about 30%. LY.com, formerly 17u.cn, wasn’t well-known in China’s online travel […]
Car Sharing Platform PPzuche Raises $10mn of Series A Funding
iCarsclub, a car sharing platform more commonly known as PPzuche in China, secured US$10 million of Series A financing led by Sequoia Capital China and followed by Crystal Stream Capital. The funding will be used to expand car fleet and construct customer service team, according to the company’s CMO Wang Jiaming. The startup has received 3 million yuan […]
Online Hotel Distribution Solution Developer DerbySoft Raises $9 million from DCM
DerbySoft Inc., a hotel distribution connectivity and caching technology service provider, has raised $9 million in Series D funding from DCM Ventures China Fund. DerbySoft connects central reservations systems (CRS) of hotels and third-parties to online booking and search services, such as Booking.com, Google, Kayak, Travelocity and Tripadvisor. Since it’s headquartered in Shanghai, China, the company also […]