Business T&E Management Firm TravelPerk Buys NexTravel

International travel management company TravelPerk has unveiled its acquisition of California-based NexTravel to help with its continuing growth roadmap in the American market. The deal will encompass the latter company’s infrastructure, client base, inventory, staffers and U.S. market knowledge, according to a Wednesday (Jan. 13) announcement.

“The acquisition of NexTravel will accelerate our growth in the US, doubling the size of our team on the ground and adding significantly to our clientbase and in-market expertise,” TravelPerk CEO and Co-Founder Avi Meir said in the announcement, noting that the acquisition is “another important milestone in TravelPerk’s global growth.”

NexTravel, which is based in Santa Monica, was started in 2013 by Alexey Pakhomov and Wen-Wen Lam, while it was rolled out in 2015 from Y Combinator. Over 700 corporate customers in the United States use the company to reserve, supervise, expense and report staffer travel. More than 300,000 journeys have been handled through the platform.

“By joining forces with TravelPerk, we’ll be able to bring a world-class booking experience to our customers and extend their international capabilities,” Lam said in the announcement.

The NexTravel deal comes on the heels of its integration of Albatross, the risk management upstart, in July of last year. TravelPerk also unveiled a collaboration with Southwest Airlines. Current customers will now be able use the carrier’s inventory for reserving domestic U.S. journeys.

TravelPerk, for its part, offers travel inventory in addition to management functionalities, round-the-clock client support, modern technology and “consumer-grade design,” according to the announcement.

In separate news, TripActions, the business travel management company recently said that its TripActions Liquid payments and expense technology now connects with top business finance infrastructures. TripActions Liquid now links up with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as Xero, SAP, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, and NetSuite.

“An automated link with ERP systems will improve analytical capabilities and provide executives with true spending intelligence across the greater organization,” TripActions Liquid General Manager Michael Sindicich said in a recent press release.