TravelPerk co-founder and CEO Avi Meir told BTN this year that his growth strategy was “to keep getting stronger by acquiring other companies and integrating their expertise and talented teams.” He completed two such major deals this year, giving the Barcelona-based TravelPerk’s client and employee bases in the U.S. and the U.K. a big boost.
The corporate travel management platform kicked off the year with the acquisition of the U.S.-based NexTravel for an undisclosed amount in January, giving TravelPerk a reported 700 new U.S. client organizations in its customer portfolio. That deal doubled TravelPerk’s team on the ground in the U.S. and made the U.S. its biggest market, Meir said following the acquisition.
About six months later, TravelPerk announced the acquisition of U.K.-based travel management company Click Travel, giving it an additional 2,000 clients—largely small and midsize companies, such as burger chain Five Guys and beverage company Red Bull—representing more than £300 million in annual business travel spend.
The Click Travel acquisition came after completing a $160 million investment round in late April intended for acquisition, employee growth and product development. TravelPerk followed up with the acquisition of U.K.-based sustainability consulting firm Susterra in September, with an eye toward integrating Susterra’s technology into the TravelPerk platform to create an “end-to-end sustainability offering,” according to TravelPerk.
In addition, TravelPerk last year made a move on the risk management side with the acquisition of startup Albatross, which developed an API for local guidelines and travel restrictions due to Covid-19.