Klook Raises $200 Million in Bid to Become a Superapp for Experiences
Photo Credit: Sentosa is an island with resort and attractions in Singapore. Sentosa attractions can be booked via Klook, an online travel agency focused on experiences. Sentosa Development Corp.
Skift Take
Klook is winning investor confidence during the pandemic. The online agency is tapping into domestic leisure spending in several Asian markets while aspiring to copy some moves from Chinese superapp Meituan by providing more business-to-business services, too.
Klook, an online travel agency focused on experiences and attractions, has raised $200 million in funding.
Aspex Management led the round, with existing investors, such as Sequoia Capital China, Softbank Vision Fund 1, Matrix Partners China, and Boyu Capital, also taking part. The Hong Kong-based startup has now raised more than $720 million since its founding in 2014. A spokesperson didn't disclose the valuation this round placed on the company.
Klook has been surviving thanks to domestic leisure spending and domestic tourism in select markets.
"In many months in the second half of last year, in China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, we have seen domestic rebounds of anywhere between 70 percent to 80 percent of pre-Covid levels," said Eric Gnock Fah, chief operating officer and co-founder.
Yet the true growth engine of international tourism has been all but shut down. The disruption affected Klook in several ways. Some of the extras it had been selling, such as SIM cards
