Traveltech Startup Guiddoo Raises Funds To Lure In China’s Tourists

Mumbai-based travel technology company Guiddoo has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from New Jersey-based global venture capital firm SOSV and Artesian China Fund to expand its services to China.

The company will be using the funds to build its products and offerings specifically for the China market and to strengthen its on ground operations and product development.

Founded in 2013 by Vineet Budki, Vishal Shah, Prashant Choudhary and Nidhi Varma, the startup helps travellers by providing services like guided tours and activities, dining, entertainment and shopping as add-ons.

The company currently offers its services across 15 international destinations and works with over 4,000 travel agents in India. Some of the institutional partners for Guiddoo are Cleartrip and Yatra. It claims to have handled more than 5,000 excursions and over 30,000 customers.

The company last raised $800K in a pre-Series A round in December 2018 and prior to that, $300K in 2017.

“With requisite infrastructure and support, the travel sector is well-poised for growth and with Guiddoo’s expertise in the ‘In-destination’ segment, we are confident of successfully reaping the opportunity,” said William Bao Bean, general partner at SOSV.

Guiddoo also plans to add new destinations in the Middle East and Africa to its portfolio to further attract the Chinese Market. As an aggregator, the firm will also focus on adding independent chinese travel service providers into the loop.

Oscar, MD, Chinaccelerator said, “Guiddoo  brings the best-in-class, digital, in-destination experiences for  the independent Chinese travelers, which we believe is a growth segment as group tours are so old school. Having deen the strong growth in the travel segment especially seeing the growth of CTrip, Qunar and Mafengo, we see a huge growth potential in the Outbound Chinese Travel Market and we believe that Guiddoo has the right product, team and expertise to build a strong base here.”

According to a recent report by McKinsey, China has pipped the US to become the largest outbound market in the world and will continue to consolidate its leadership position with an estimated 160 Mn outbound travelers by 2020.

India is now one of the fastest growing outbound tourism markets in the world, second only to China. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that India will account for 50 Mn outbound tourists by 2020.

The Indian Outbound Tourism Market is expected to surpass $42 Bn by the end of the year 2024. As Guiddoo expands to China to take over the largest tourism market, the company has big shoes to fill.