HolidayIQ acqui-hires team from SourceN to strengthen mobile offering

HolidayIQ.com, a travel information and review portal run by Bangalore-based Leisure and Lifestyle Information Services Pvt Ltd, has acquired the travel mobile development team of SourceN India Pvt Ltd, a Bangalore-based mobile development firm.

SourceN offers strategic consulting, creative design and technical implementation services across three domains—mobile, social and web 2.0.

The acquisition is aimed at bolstering HolidayIQ.com's mobile offerings. The portal expects the acquisition to enhance its position in the online travel segment in the country.

"Mobile continues to be the core focus at HolidayIQ and this acquisition is a step in that direction. The SourceN team's understanding of mobile consumer behaviour in travel will strengthen our holidays product and create a robust engine enabling easier sharing of travel reviews, ratings, images and video on mobile. We will continue to make investments in strengthening our mobile capabilities," Hari Nair, founder and CEO, HolidayIQ.com, said.

HolidayIQ.com is a travel information portal which claims to have over 30 lakh members from more than 80 Indian cities. The portal also claims it lists over 2,000 tourism destinations and 50,000+ accommodation options in India.

Founded in 2004, HolidayIQ is not a typical travel agent and does not do bookings directly, but operates on user generated content. It enables travelers discover, plan holidays and share holiday experiences. The company had raised four rounds of funding since 2010 from its existing investors Tiger Global Management and Accel Partners and is looking to raise a fresh round in the latter half of 2015. SourceN was founded by Deepak Ramachandran and Ajay Ramachandran in 2004 and has worked with global brands like Apple, Dell, HP, Intel and SAP. "Our team that has joined HolidayIQ is eager to bolster HolidayIQ's mobile application development capabilities and make the HolidayIQ app the best travel app for millions of Indian travelers," said Karma Bhutia, managing partner, SourceN.