Tech Transformers

GoEuro raises $70 million designed to make booking travel as easy as Uber

GoEuro, a travel booking app backed by major investors including Goldman Sachs, has raised $70 million in a bid to expand the offerings on its platform.

The funding round was led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk, a fund of Silver Lake, and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Berlin, Germany-based GoEuro allows you to plan and book a trip across Europe using different modes of transport such as buses, trains and flights. The idea, according to chief executive Naren Shaam, is to make it as easy as ordering an Uber.

The company earns commission off every ticket it sells and the three-year-old company is now looking at adding new transport modes on to the platform including ferries and ride sharing services.

"When you look at the European landscape it has thousands of ground transportation options, but the majority of tickets are bought at station and it's not mobile. The options you have with ride-sharing apps or Amazon aren't there yet," Shaam told CNBC in a phone interview.

"We are going to invest more in our product to bring the whole industry into mobile."


Paul Bradbury | Caiaimage | Getty Images

The latest funding round comes after a $45 million tranche in December and brings the total raised by GoEuro to over $145 million. Previous investors in the start-up include Goldman Sachs and Atomico, the venture capital firm of Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom. Shaam said the second money raise in 10 months was needed because it's a capital-intensive business.

"It is something that requires capital because we do everything in terms of bringing inventory on system and doing everything that a consumer business does. But it is like a factory, you invest a lot and over time it pays off." Shaam said.

"It's a very large industry and in order to take on a large industry, you need large amounts of capital. We are not talking about four or five bus companies we are talking about an entire industry here."

Shaam did not reveal the valuation of the company but a line in the press release says the company is "poised to join the small circle of European start-ups seen to have the potential to become multi-billion dollar companies", suggesting it considers itself close to so-called "unicorn" status. GoEuro now has 10 million users a month.

It already has integrated with French ride-sharing start-up BlaBlaCar in certain markets.

When asked if he would consider a partnership with Uber, Shaam said, "yes indeed".

GoEuro is in 12 European countries at the moment, but said it is not considering expanding to the U.S. Instead, South East Asia is a much more attractive market.