iTech Capital Injects $10M Into Aviasales, Taking Minority Stake In Russia’s No.1 Travel Search Engine

TechCrunch
Russian’s largest travel search engine, Aviasales, which lets consumers find cheap flights and holiday accommodation online or via its apps (operating under the JetRadar brand outside Russia), has bagged a $10 million investment from iTech Capital, which is taking a minority stake in the company.
iTech Capital’s Managing Partner Gleb Davidyuk and Investment Manager Ilya Balandin have both joined Aviasales’ board. It’s the first external investment for Aviasales.
Aviasales said the new funding will be spent on developing its service, expanding its team and promoting “key products” — namely its two search engines (both its Russian market product, and the international offering), as well as funneling money into a Hotellook hospitality project, with the eponymous Russian hotel price comparison service; and a Travelpayouts affiliate network.
In its home market of Russia, Avisales competes (and beats) the likes of SkyScanner, Kayak and Momondo. Its travel metasearch offering gets more than 4 million monthly unique visitors, making more than 500,000 search queries for tickets per day. Aviasales compares prices across more than 100 ticket agencies and more than 60 airline carriers.
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