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KKday Raises Series C+ Round To Double Down On Hiring, Footprint, Tech The additional funding secured in this Series C+ round brings the total Series C round raised to $95 million

By Soumya Duggal

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KKday, a major travel experiences platform in Asia, has secured additional funding in a Series C+ round, bringing the total Series C round raised to $95 million. The round was led by private equity firm TGVest Capital.

The injection will be used to expand KKday's team globally, and deepen its domestic
footprint, particularly in markets where there is a focus on domestic travel (e.g. Japan,
Korea, Taiwan, etc.), and tech innovation to meet the increasing demands of online travel
agencies ('OTAs') and local activity and experience providers (local merchants), said a statement.

"We remain steadfast in our value proposition on providing unique hyperlocal experiences to
travelers who are becoming more digital. Hyperlocalization and digitization will be our north
star for scaling and building our user and merchant base. Over the past year, we have laid
the groundwork and seen our domestic travel business growing steadily in key markets like
Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Southeast Asia. We plan to double down on our
current initiatives including partnering with our merchants and OTA's to digitize their
businesses in anticipation of pent-up demand for tourism and travel," said Ming Chen, CEO
and founder, KKday.

KKday is rebounding swiftly due to growth in its domestic travel business, new business
verticals, and successfully rolling out rezio (KKday's all-in-one SaaS solution to manage
bookings and inventory for merchants on multiple channels) to over 1,600 merchants worldwide, reaching 2.7 million travelers globally, said the statement.

To meet this demand, KKday also plans to double down and aggressively hire across regions and roles including software engineers, R&D, business development and operations, and marketing, it added.

In June 2022, KKday's GMV claimed to have surpassed pre-Covid levels and lowered its user acquisition costs to one-third of its costs pre-pandemic.

"Traveler demand is rebounding at a fast pace as borders reopen. Ming and his team's
relentless focus on innovation and providing long-term value to its ecosystem of travel
operators, activity providers, and users has proven paramount in weathering the Covid-19
wave. With this funding round, KKday will be in a strong position to capture market share
and value as travel continues to reopen and digital transformation continues to be a
long-term trend," said Claire Lai, Managing Director of TGVest Capital.

Soumya Duggal

Former Feature Writer

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