Cloud-based booking platform Spotnana has raised US$75 million in its
latest fund-raising round, which the company said would help it
accelerate hiring and boost faster adoption on the platform.
Co-founder and CEO Sarosh Waghmar told BTN that Spotnana's primary
focus at the moment is on modernising infrastructure as well as the API
so others can consume content. "Imagine you're taking a single Spotnana
API that has done the work of an Amadeus and a Travel Fusion and a
Sabre, and content in Japan and China," he said. "Integrating that
single API and making that consumable to a third party is a challenge."
To date, Spotnana has not publicly named any of its initial corporate
customers, but Waghmar said it has signed "several customers…which is
why you know the [fund-raising] round was the size that it was," and
those include a Fortune 20 company that is piloting the platform. Travel
management company customers are in "more than the single digits," he
added.
Waghmar said to this point, Spotnana has maintained a "relatively
small" sales team as initial interest was buoyed by it bringing on such
notable industry names as Concur co-founder Steve Singh, corporate
travel innovator Johnny Thorsen and former American Express Global
Business Travel COO Bill Brindle. Now, Spotnana is "slowly and
thoughtfully" building out its sales teams, Waghmar said.
The latest fund-raising round was led by Durable Capital Partners,
which Waghmar said was a "massive acknowledgment" of Spotnana's
long-term vision.
"Durable typically does two or three private deals a year, so having
someone with deep pockets who can take you all the way, it's great," he
said. "It's a great signal to the industry as well, with everything
that's going on around us."
Existing investors Madrona Venture Group, Iconiq Growth, Mubadala
Capital and Blank Ventures also participated in the round. Spotnana
completed a US$34 million Series A fund-raising round last year, which
now brings its total investment to more than US$100 million.
Source: Business Travel News