Company:Skyscanner

From HandWiki
Short description: Online travel agency and metasearch engine
Skyscanner Ltd.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTravel
Founded(2003; 21 years ago (2003))[1]
Founders
  • Gareth Williams
  • Barry Smith
  • Bonamy Grimes
Headquarters
Edinburgh, Scotland
,
United Kingdom
Key people
Revenue£261 million (2016)[2]
Number of employees
1,000+ (2021)[3]
ParentTrip.com Group
Websiteskyscanner.com

Skyscanner is a search aggregator and travel agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1] The site is available in over 30 languages and is used by 100 million people per month.[1][4] The company lets people research and book travel options for their trips, including flights, hotels and car hire.[1]

History

The company was formed in 2003[1] by three information technology professionals, Gareth Williams, Barry Smith, and Bonamy Grimes, after Gareth was frustrated by the difficulties of finding cheap flights to ski resorts.[5] Skyscanner was first developed and released in 2002.[citation needed] In 2003, the first employee was hired to assist with site development.[citation needed] The Edinburgh office was opened in 2004.[6]

In 2008, Skyscanner received first round funding of £2.5 million from venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners (SEP).[7]

In 2009, the year after SEP invested in the business, Skyscanner reported its first profit.[8]

In 2011, Skyscanner acquired Zoombu.[9] Skyscanner opened an office in Singapore in September 2011, which is headquarters for its Asia-Pacific operations.[10] In 2012, a Beijing office was added, as Skyscanner began a partnership with Baidu, China's largest search engine.[11]

By 2013, the company employed over 180 people.[12] In February 2013, Skyscanner announced plans to open a United States base in Miami.[12] In October 2013, Sequoia Capital purchased an interest in Skyscanner that valued the company at $800 million.[13] In June 2014, Skyscanner acquired Youbibi, a travel search engine company based in Shenzhen, China.[14]

In October 2014, Skyscanner acquired the Budapest-based mobile app developer Distinction.[15]

By February 2015, the company employed 600 people, double the employment of 18 months earlier.[16]

In January 2016, the company raised $192 million based on a $1.6 billion valuation for the company.[17]

In November 2016, a Chinese company Trip.com Group (formerly Ctrip) bought Skyscanner for $1.75 billion.[18] Following the sale to Ctrip, Skyscanner's largest shareholder, SEP, completed its exit from the business.[19]

In 2017, Ctrip bought the Trip.com domain and launched Trip.com. The original platform became a subsidiary of Skyscanner.[20]

In 2020, the company announced that they would be laying off 300 employees after COVID-19 rocked the travel industry. This represented 20 per cent of their staff with two offices in Budapest, Hungary and Sofia, Bulgaria, likely to shut down.[21]

In 2022, Huawei and Skyscanner forms a partnership to bring various travel services Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) and Petal Search and Petal Maps.[22]

See also

  • Booking.com
  • Super.com
  • Kayak
  • JetRadar

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "About Skyscanner". skyscanner.com. https://www.skyscanner.com/about-us. 
  2. ↑ Field, Matthew (4 October 2019). "Skyscanner soars to record revenues under Chinese ownership". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/10/04/skyscanner-soars-record-revenues-chinese-ownership/. 
  3. ↑ "United by a love of travel". https://www.skyscanner.net/about-us/our-people. 
  4. ↑ O'Hear, Steve (28 September 2012). "Skyscanner's Mobile Apps Hit 10M Downloads, Letting Users Find Cheap Flights On The Go". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/18/skyscanners-mobile-apps-hit-10m-downloads-letting-users-find-cheap-flights-on-the-go/. 
  5. ↑ Trapp, Roger (18 February 2006). "How to launch a great business". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sme/how-to-launch-a-great-business-346119.html. 
  6. ↑ "In pictures: inside Skyscanner’s head office". https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/in-pictures-inside-skyscanners-head-office-884900#:~:text=The%20first%20office%20opened%20in%20Edinburgh%20in%202004. 
  7. ↑ "Skyscanner Lands VC Funding to Build World's Leading Flight Search Engine" (in en-GB). 2008-01-20. https://www.skyscanner.net/press-releases/skyscanner-lands-vc-funding-build-world-s-leading-flight-search-engine. 
  8. ↑ "Travel firm secures major investment" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2016-01-12. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-35289861. 
  9. ↑ Butcher, Mike (17 January 2011). "Travel search engine Skyscanner acquires Zoombu". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2011/01/17/travel-search-engine-skyscanner-acquires-zoombu/. 
  10. ↑ "Skyscanner to set up operation in Singapore". BBC News. 26 June 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-13919093. 
  11. ↑ "Skyscanner lands China search engine deal". BBC News. 23 August 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-13919093. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Flight firm Skyscanner moves in to America". BBC News. 4 February 2012. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-21318799. 
  13. ↑ "Skyscanner valued at $800m by backer of Apple". The Evening Standard. 3 October 2013. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/skyscanner-valued-at-800m-by-backer-of-apple-8855825.html. 
  14. ↑ "Skyscanner buys Chinese metasearch firm Youbibi". BBC News. 25 June 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-28014913. 
  15. ↑ O'Hear, Steve (22 October 2014). "Travel Search Company Skyscanner Acquires Budapest-Based Mobile App Developer Distinction". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/22/travel-search-company-skyscanner-acquires-budapest-based-mobile-app-developer-distinction/. 
  16. ↑ Russell, Jon (23 February 2015). "Skyscanner optimistic as revenue growth slows". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/4320fe10-b53d-11e4-8362-00144feab7de. 
  17. ↑ Shu, Catherine (12 January 2016). "Travel Search Site Skyscanner Raises $192M For International Expansion". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/12/skyscanner-unicorn/. 
  18. ↑ Dickie, Mure (23 November 2016). "China's Ctrip is buying flight search company SkyScanner for $1.74 billion.". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/23/ctrip-skyscanner/. 
  19. ↑ "Scottish Equity Partners exits Skyscanner following £1.4 billion sale" (in en-GB). 2016-12-09. https://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/scottis-equity-partners-exits-skyscanner-2549053/. 
  20. ↑ Bort, Julie (1 November 2017). "Tiny startup Trip.com has been acquired by Chinese travel giant Ctrip – a move that could shake up the travel industry". Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-app-tripcom-acquired-by-china-ctrip-2017-11. 
  21. ↑ Rafiah, Moshe (14 July 2020). "A Skyscanner update". https://www.skyscanner.net/company-news/a-skyscanner-update. 
  22. ↑ Sarkar, Amy (2022-05-26). "Huawei and Skyscanner partners for Petal Search integration". HuaweiCentral. https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-and-skyscanner-partners-for-petal-search-integration/. 

External links



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