Treebo, Hype and ConfirmTKT may raise fresh capital: Reports

Budget hotel chain Treebo Hotels is in advanced talks to raise up to $40 million (Rs 281 crore at current exchange rates) from French hospitality chain Accor SA in a fresh round of funding, a report in a financial daily stated.

The Economic Times, citing unnamed people aware of the matter, said that the Bengaluru-based hospitality chain is expected to raise this sum at a post-money valuation of $205-240 million.

The company’s last known funding round was in 2017 when it raised $34 million (Rs 220 crore then) in its Series C funding round led by Hong Kong-based investment firms Ward Ferry Management and Karst Peak Capital, said the report.

E-mail queries sent to Treebo seeking more information in this regard did not elicit a response till the time of filing this report.

Last year, media reports had suggested that the company had been looking to raise capital for quite some. In between, there were also speculations of a possible consolidation between Treebo and FabHotels, another well-funded player in the space.

Players like Treebo and FabHotels are currently facing stiff competition from deep-pocketed and better-established players like OYO, MakeMyTrip and Yatra, who are seen as the current market leaders in the hotel accommodation space. Besides, global players like Airbnb, Booking.com and Agoda have also set up shop in India where they are looking to expand their operations through strategic investments or tie-ups.

Ruptub Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs Treebo Hotels, was founded in 2015 by former McKinsey and Myntra executives Rahul Chaudhary and Sidharth Gupta and former MakeMyTrip executive Kadam Jeet Jain.

Treebo works with new and existing hotels on a franchise model where it offers its brand name, quality oversight, access to leading vendors, staff training and sales and marketing expertise to the property.

Luxury car rental platform Hype to raise $30 mn

Bengaluru-based Hype Technologies, which operates an eponymous online platform for luxury car rentals, is in early stages of discussions to raise $25-30 million in a Series A round of funding from venture capital investors, it said in a statement.

Rahul Belavadi, founder and chief executive of the venture, said that the company will use the capital to acquire customers and expand its operations pan Indian to 200 cities, the statement added.

Founded in 2017 by Belavadi, the startup aggregates high-end luxury vehicles such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Maserati on its platform. Users can rent cars either on the company’s desktop site or through its mobile app. The company claims to be operating in 45 cities across India

IAN to invest in ConfirmTKT

Bengaluru-based Confirm Ticket Online Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs train ticket discovery platform ConfirmTKT, is in talks to raise $2-3 million from the Indian Angel Network (IAN) and other high-net-worth individuals, a report in Mint stated, citing two persons in the know.

The startup is also in talks with China and US-based investors for its ongoing Series A investment round, the report added, citing the second person mentioned above.

ConfirmTKT is also in advanced stages of raising a bridge round, the Mint report stated.

E-mail queries sent to ConfirmTKT seeking more information on the investment did not elicit a response till the time of filing this report.

In 2016, ConfirmTKT received $250,000 (around Rs 1.7 crore then) from investment platform Venture Catalysts.

The venture was founded in July 2014 by two former IBM executives, Sripad Vaidya and Dinesh Kumar Kotha.