SAIF Partners invests $1.7M in online marketplace for travel agents TravelTriangle

Noida-based Holiday Triangle Travel Pvt Ltd, the company behind TravelTriangle.com, an online marketplace for travel agents, has secured Rs 10 crore ($1.7 million) in funding from private equity firm SAIF Partners.

"We already have 30,000 to 40,000 uniquely-personalised itineraries from 430 travel agents on our website. Although the company is profitable, we could feel a palatable need to invest in technology and product. This round of funding from SAIF Partners will enable us to create vital intelligence around pricing, engine, user data and mobile," said Sankalp Agarwal, Co-founder & CEO at TravelTriangle.

The company was founded in 2010 by Agarwal, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur; Sanchit Garg, an IIT Bombay alumnus; and Prabhat Gupta, an alumnus of IIT Guwahati. TravelTriangle.com is an online marketplace for travel agents, who can provide customised tours packages to travellers at the best prices. The platform enables customers to connect to multiple local travel agents, get quotations, customise their trips according to their preferences, and book through the site directly. Users can also go through over 1,400 reviews of agents written by other travellers and make their choices empowered by this knowledge.

TravelTriangle.com claims that it has served customers from 33 countries with the majority being from India. The company claims it is already clocking around $3.5 million in annual gross transaction value run rate.

"Tours and packages is a large and growing market in India. There is a big pain point around fulfilment and customisation. We liked what TravelTriangle has done so far and would like to participate in the journey of such a great team," said Mukul Singhal, principal, SAIF Partners.

SAIF Partners is a leading VC & PE firm, and manages over $1 billion of investments in India. It has a portfolio of over 30 companies, including Makemytrip, JustDial, HomeShop18, One97, Speciality Restaurants, Havells, Karur Vysya Bank, Mindtree and IPCA Laboratories. SAIF recently participated in a $25 million funding round in online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow, along with Accel Partners and Network18.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)