Hopper Secures $96M From Capital One to Grow Travel App

Travel app Hopper has secured a $96 million follow-on investment from Capital One, which led its Series F round in March 2021, and Hopper said it will use the funds to accelerate its growth across several fronts.

For one thing, Hopper will continue to add new social commerce features in addition to those it is now rolling out, which include referrals, share-to-earn, team buying and daily gifts, Hopper said Monday (Nov. 7) in a press release.

The company has also extended its partnership with Capital One to keep adding features to Capital One Travel, its travel booking experience with cardholder benefits, according to the release.

“We are thrilled to be extending our partnership with Capital One to further the growth and expansion of Capital One Travel,” Hopper CEO and Co-Founder Frederic Lalonde said in the release. “We look forward to continuing to deliver a game-changing travel booking experience that evolves to meet the next generation of customers’ needs.”

The Hopper travel app has 80 million downloads and is on track to sell $4.5 billion this year in travel and travel FinTech offerings, including flights, hotels, homes and rental cars, according to the press release.

Over the last year, Hopper launched a B2B initiative called Hopper Cloud that enables travel providers to integrate and distribute its content. The company also shifted its growth strategy to put most of its marketing budget towards in-app activity and rewards, the release stated.

Capital One Managing Vice President of U.S. Card Matt Knise said in the release: “Through this strategic partnership, we’re well-positioned to adapt to a rapidly changing travel environment and create industry-leading solutions for our customers along their travel journey.”

Hopper made its name with airfare bookings, offering price freeze services that allow consumers to lock in a lower price for their tickets, then expanded into protection services such as cancellations and refunds, Lalonde told PYMNTS in an interview posted in August 2021.

But it was the move into hotel bookings and car rentals that kick-started Hopper’s growth spurt, Lalonde said at the time.