The investment will be focussed on extending ibibo’s leadership position in the Indian hotels category and on additional technology innovations.
ibibo Group, the Indian online travel venture backed by global internet and media company Naspers, as well as China’s internet firm Tencent has announced that Naspers will be investing another US$250m in the group. The investment will be focussed on extending ibibo’s leadership position in the Indian hotels category and on additional technology innovations.
ibibo processed more than 6.5m transactions for the period October to December (Q3) 2015. It is the largest online travel company in India, generating more than 2.5x the transaction volumes of its nearest competitor. The group owns integrated online travel properties such as Goibibo.com, and redBus.in. Goibibo hotel bookings surpassed 1.6m room nights during Q3, up 400% YOY, mobile contributed to 71% of the bookings in the month of December 2015, up from 42% a year ago.
ibibo Group Founder & CEO, Ashish Kashyap said: “Our objective is to solve problems for the transportation and accommodation providers and to connect them to the travellers. The commitment from both Naspers and Tencent to ibibo is testimony to the strength of our platforms and the opportunities ahead”.