Corporate Travel Firm Itilite Aims For Global Growth With $13M Series B

To speed up its global expansion, digital travel management firm Itilite has notched $13 million in a Series B round led by Vy Capital and Greenoaks Capital. Matrix Partners India participated in the round, as did other current investors in the company, Phocuswire reported.

Mayank Kukreja, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said that even with a decline in revenue because of COVID-19, he and the investors have a positive outlook. He said, per the report, “They [investors] are making a long-term bet. They believe there is a huge opportunity, and what we are doing makes sense.”

Itilite, which was started in 2017, has 200 mid-sized and large enterprise customers that include Swiggy and Ola, among others. The firm’s clients are mainly in India, but also extend to Southeast Asia and the United States.

The company offers an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform that it claims provides a booking experience of a minute and a half while letting firms reward staffers for selecting, say, hotels and flights that save money.

Matrix India Director Gourav Bhattacharya said, per the report, “Optimizing travel for cost and experience is a priority for every business on the planet, and the growth Itilite has achieved by delivering this in such a short time is impressive.”

The company’s funding now stands at $18 million. It has been rolling out functions geared toward safety in recent weeks, like finding hotels that adhere to the World Health Organization’s “COVID Safe” standards.

Aside from making ongoing updates to the offering, Kukreja noted that funding would be used to speed up growth beyond India.

The news comes as the coronavirus decimates the demand for fights, with United Airlines registering a $2.1 billion loss for Q1 2020. United is the first of the large air carriers to talk about quarterly results during the pandemic. Its preliminary figures show the negative impact on demand for air travel amid the stay-at-home orders around most the globe.