In the period when the travel industry is experiencing significant difficulties, Ferryhopper, a three -year Greek startup on a mission to simplify the reservation of ferry tickets attracted 2.6 million euros in the financing of the A series. The Bulgarian company of VC Launchub Ventures is the main investor while the previous investors Metavallon VC and Easygroup have also joined the Tour. To date, Ferryhopper has added more than 300 destinations in 10 countries, constituting a team of 37-gens in the meantime. Since 2017, thanks to the platform of the young travel technology company, has been sold about a million ferry tickets.
The new investment will be used for the continuation of the international expansion of the company, as well as the optimization and development of services, products and infrastructure. After the successful addition of Spanish and Italian destinations in 2019, Ferryhopper will continue to extend and integrate new destinations and ferry operators in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe over the next year. The company estimates that the size of the ferry ticket sales market in Europe is around 4 billion euros.
“Our next goal is to make sure that the company and the team will continue to grow and evolve, even in this very unstable and difficult environment. However, our longer -term objectives and our vision remain preserved and we are counting on this funding which feeds our future stages: the strong establishment on the Greek and regional market, expansion on the entire European continent in the next two to three years, and the continuous development of innovative products and ferry -related services remain our priorities, “said Ferryhopper Topicper.
Adapt to the crisis
In practice, Ferryhopper brings together ferry aggregators, individual ferry operators and travel agents via a unified reservation API which incorporates millions of combinations of route, prices and booking courses. All this data is used to supply a simple reservation experience with options for routes between locations without direct ferry connection, island jump and mobile tickets.
In terms of a commercial model, Ferryhopper relies on affiliate marketing partnerships with ferry companies and the marking of whites, as was the case with the Easyferry platform last year.
“The ferry market experienced two to three months very difficult, after the disaster in the travel industry as a whole. During this period, we focus on our customers, to offer alternative solutions, to be there for them. It is very important in such a situation to stay next to your client, I would say that it is the essence of the travel agent. Apart from that, I would not say that we have pivoted, but we have redefined our methods of acquiring customers, our target audience, our modus operandi. By the same path and towards the same target but with different stages and milestones, ”shares Spatharakis.
For Launchub Ventures, this is the third investment for 2020 after Cleanshelf and Leanplum, and apparently, despite difficult times, the company is more concentrated in the long term.
“We are extremely happy to lead the series of financing for the A Ferryhopper series and to support the team’s growth course. Ferry transport is an essential industry, which can largely benefit from the use of technology. The company has obtained impressive results so far without significant investments. We believe that this is the result of the development of the phenomenal customer and the large platform that Ferryhopper built, ”explains Stanislav Sirakov, partner of Launchub Ventures.
Sirakov’s feeling was supported by other investors in the Tour.
“The way in which the Ferryhopper team has managed the COVVI-19 crisis is exemplary: they changed their operations during the night, they went through all the stress test scenarios, they finished their development of mobile applications, improved their content marketing and changed their commercial model to local tourism for 2020. Metavallon VC.
“In a difficult period for all travel companies in the world, I will continue to invest in a software company which is well placed to capitalize on the return of travel standards, once they occur. The Easyferry.com online platform, which is part of the easy family of brands in Greece and propelled by ferryhopper, will become a reliable source of information for people looking for the best ferry options in Greece and beyond. People who try to understand the hours for all ferry companies or the search for the best value options for the post-coronavirus era will trust easyferry.com to deliver exactly that. With a good part of the company by focusing on interior ferry traffic to the Greek islands, which is practically back to normal, I am sure that the platform booking volumes will recover faster than international travel options, “shares Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder and owner at Easygroup.
Towards a more united ecosystem?
Although small markets in southeast Europe assume that separate countries could benefit from the realization of resources to help the ecosystem reach the following level, there have been many transactions involving investors from several locations in the region. One of the biggest exceptions is the Fintechos, which, in the first half of 2019, closed a post-third standard round of 1.1 million euros led by the Romanian Fund Gapminder and joined by Launchub Ventures and other private investors.
“We believe that local cross-border transactions are an excellent way to create synergies, both at the start-up and VC level, because Southeast Europe is really a market and opportunities in terms of a strong talent basin as well as the challenges of companies are very similar. With strong local donors, companies in the region can thrive both in the European PAN and worldwide, ”commented the Papathanou subject.