Engineformerly Hotel Engine, raised $140 million in Series C funding led by a private equity-advised fund Permira valuing the Denver-based startup at $2.1 billion.
The recent valuation represents a 62% increase from the previous value of $1.3 billion following the Series B funding round in late 2021, which raised $65 million.
This growth is no small feat considering that many startups proceed to boost money in flat or even lower funding rounds on account of their very high valuations from the record years of 2020 and 2021 in the enterprise capital market.
The report also shows a regular recovery in business travel, one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and which has taken some time to return to normal.
Development and rebranding
Engine’s platform connects business travelers to a network of greater than 750,000 hotels, 300 airlines, and 40 automotive rental corporations. Travel providers also use the company’s platform to supply business travelers special deals, manage reservations, and create marketing.
The company is profitable and growing revenue by 70% 12 months over 12 months. The company will use the fresh capital to support product development, including launching flight bookings and automotive rentals on its platform.
The company also announced a name change to “Engine.”
“Hotel bookings will always be in our DNA, but we want to transform the entire travel experience,” said the CEO Elia Wallen IN release“We aim to be the driving force behind business travel. Our new name will reflect this, and with Permira’s latest investment, we are better equipped than ever to turn our ambitions into reality.”
The recent funding round is the largest this 12 months for a travel startup, surpassing the roughly $106 million it raised in a Series D round in Spain Travel Perk closed in January, in line with Crunchbase data.
Founded in 2015, Engine has raised $221 million in line with Crunchbase.