[London, ENGLAND] European travel portal eDreams, the
largest in Spain and Italy, announced Monday it has secured
nearly US $14 million in second round financing.
The new investment comes from financiers led by 3i Group
in the U.K., and consisting of Apax Partners, Atlas Venture,
Doll Capital Management, Net Partners and Banco Santander
Central Hispano (BSCH). It brings the total investment
in eDreams by these companies to US $34 million.
As a result of the funding, Javier Perez-Tenessa,
eDreams’ co-founder and chief executive, has been
speaking enthusiastically about his company’s “aggressive
expansion plans.” Having already entered the U.K. it
intends to expand into France in the coming months
with the eventual aim of building a pan-European service.
Carlos Mallo, Director of 3i Europe’s Barcelona office,
referred to the “solid results” achieved by eDreams since
its launch early last year. It had, he said, surpassed
expectations in terms of both sales and users.
George Charters, director of Apax Partners, was confident
that eDreams would emerge as a profitable winner in its
market sector.
“eDreams is a strong proposition with a valuable, experienced
management team in place to execute it to the full,” added
Gerard Montanus, senior principal, Atlas Venture.
So why are the fortunes of eDreams waxing while those of
lastminute.com are so notably waning?
It is probably the growth of such operations as eDreams
that is causing problems for the early dotcoms in the
European travel sector. In its first year of trading,
eDreams has grabbed sales of nearly US $10 million out
of the sector — and that’s US $10 million less for the
other players.
What is more: eDreams has established a solid foundation
in Spain and Italy, and has drawn upon the expertise of
established travel companies such as Amadeus and First
Choice. Its community of 450 Dreamguides has been
especially popular in offering users expert advice
for their vacations around the world.
Now eDreams has half a million registered users and
looks like it could, with time, become a strong contender
for the much-desired top spot in European online travel
operations.
