Travel experiences, activities platform KKday extends Series C round to US$95M for domestic expansion

KKday, an e-commerce platform for tours, experiences and activities, has secured an undisclosed sum in additional funding led by TGVest Capital to bring its total Series C round to US$95 million.

The first tranche of US$75 million came in September 2020, led by Cool Japan Fund and National Development Fund.

The new capital will be used to expand KKday’s team globally and deepen its domestic footprint, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

A portion of the capital will be used for innovation to “meet the increasing demands” of online travel agencies (OTAs) and local activity and experience providers (local merchants).

Also Read: 3 learnings from KKday CEO and Founder on how his travel startup overcame the pandemic

“Hyperlocalisation and digitisation will be our north star for scaling and building our user and merchant base. Over the past year, we have laid the groundwork and seen our domestic travel business growing steadily in key markets like Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Southeast Asia. We plan to double down on our current initiatives, including partnering with our merchants and OTAs to digitise their businesses in anticipation of pent-up demand for tourism and travel,” said Ming Chen, CEO and Founder of KKday.

Founded in 2015, KKday is an online platform specialising in local in-destination tours and guides. Through a collection of curated experiences, it provides travellers with an avenue to find off-grid activities and book them through the platform.

KKday said it is rebounding swiftly due to growth in its domestic travel and new business verticals. It is rolling out its all-in-one SaaS solution rezio to manage bookings and inventory for merchants on multiple channels) to over 1,600 merchants worldwide, reaching 2.7 million travellers globally.

In June 2022, KKday’s GMV surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels. The firm also claimed that it lowered its user acquisition costs to one-third of its costs pre-pandemic.

During the pandemic, KKday’s domestic travel business has been the main driver of growth across key markets, including Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. KKday also expects strong domestic business growth in Japan, particularly off the back of its acquisition of Activity Japan, a tours and activity OTA in Japan.

Business momentum is also expected to pick up in markets like Korea and Singapore, where international travel is returning.

With an influx of domestic and international travellers expecting to return, an increase of local activity providers have adopted rezio to help digitise and scale their businesses and get access to manage their bookings on multiple OTAs.

With the new funding, KKday also plans to scale and build new rezio features to automate and streamline solutions for merchants. rezio has also partnered with major OTAs such as Viator to deepen its merchants’ channels and footprint globally. The partnership allows rezio to integrate its API to enable merchants to manage their products on Viator and Tripadvisor on top of its existing sales channels.

Also Read: Taiwan’s KKday raises Series B+ from LINE Ventures, Alibaba to expand globally

KKday also plans to relaunch its in-demand owned and operated signature tours that provide travellers with curated quality local experiences as borders reopen.

“Traveller demand is rebounding at a fast pace as borders reopen. Ming and his team’s relentless focus on innovation and providing long-term value to its ecosystem of travel operators, activity providers, and users has proven paramount in weathering the COVID-19 wave,” said Claire Lai, Managing Director of TGVest Capital.

In November 2018, KKday had secured an undisclosed amount in Series B-plus, co-led by LINE Ventures and the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. This round came close to six months after it raised investment from Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and launched a flagship store under Fliggy, Alibaba Group’s travel portal in China.

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