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§ Private Profile · Berlin, Germany
Global online marketplace for booking tours, excursions, activities, attractions, shows, and events, connecting travelers worldwide.
GetYourGuide has raised $1.1B across 11 funding rounds.
Key people at GetYourGuide.
GetYourGuide has raised $1.1B in total across 11 funding rounds.
Based in Berlin, Germany, GetYourGuide operates a global online marketplace that connects travelers with local tour operators to book excursions, attractions, shows, and events. The platform features a network of more than 50,000 supply partners offering over 200,000 experiences across 18,000 cities worldwide. Operating with a workforce of over 850 employees, the company processes approximately 33,000 daily bookings and recently surpassed 200 million total experiences booked. The commission-based business has achieved a $2 billion valuation with financial backing from prominent institutional investors including the SoftBank Vision Fund. Under the leadership of executives like Chief Financial Officer Nils Chrestin, the platform recently expanded its capabilities by launching artificial intelligence tools for operators and selling over 10 million tickets in a single quarter. GetYourGuide was founded in 2009 by Johannes Reck, Tao Tao, and two classmates.
Key people at GetYourGuide.
GetYourGuide has raised $1.1B in total across 11 funding rounds.
GetYourGuide's investors include Blue Pool Capital, UniCredit, Erik Johnson, Jason Kelce, Justin Jefferson, Kevin Gausman, Khris Middleton, BNP Paribas, Citi, KfW, KKR, Temasek.
GetYourGuide has raised $1.1B across 11 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $194.0M Debt / Series F in May 2023.
GetYourGuide is a Berlin-based technology company operating an online marketplace that connects travelers with local tours, excursions, activities, and attractions worldwide. It enables tourists to discover and book experiences via its website and mobile app while allowing third-party operators to list offerings, manage inventory, and reach a global audience through a commission-based model.[1][2][3] Serving millions of users and over 25,000 partners across thousands of destinations, GetYourGuide solves the fragmentation in booking in-destination experiences—unlike flights or hotels, which are easily reserved online—by aggregating immersive activities like guided tours, adventure outings, and cultural events.[3][6][7] The platform has demonstrated strong growth, scaling from initial student-led tours to over 150 million bookings, 140,000+ unique experiences, a $2 billion valuation, and a team of 800+ across 17 offices.[5][8][9][10]
GetYourGuide was founded in 2009 by ETH Zurich classmates Johannes Reck, Tao Tao, Martin Sieber, Tobias Rein, Jochen Mattes, and Pascal Mathis (though only Reck and Tao remain in key roles today).[1][2][7] The idea sparked during a 2009 student conference trip to Beijing, where Reck arrived a day early, struggled to navigate and experience the city alone, and was later guided by Tao, revealing a gap in connecting tourists with local insights.[2][4][7][9] Starting as a peer-to-peer platform for students to offer guided tours in their home cities, it pivoted to a professional B2C reservation system after recognizing vendors' need for online booking tools; the public platform launched in 2010.[1][3]
Early traction came slowly, with the team targeting 30 daily bookings, but relocations—from Zurich to Berlin in 2012 for venture capital—and funding accelerated growth: $14 million Series A in 2013, acquisition of Gidsy that year, a mobile app launch in 2014, and a landmark $484 million Series E from SoftBank in 2019 at a $1 billion+ unicorn valuation.[1][2][5] By then, it had sold 25 million tickets, evolving into a category leader with offices in Europe, North America, Dubai, and beyond.[1][3][8]
GetYourGuide rides the experiential travel trend, where post-pandemic consumers prioritize immersive, local activities over traditional sightseeing, fueled by mobile tech and the rise of "bleisure" (business-leisure) trips.[3][6] Its timing capitalized on the 2010s boom in online marketplaces, filling the "last-mile" gap in travel booking after flights/hotels were digitized, amid market forces like smartphone penetration and demand for personalized, authentic experiences from small operators often overlooked by big players.[1][4][9] In Europe's startup ecosystem, it exemplifies ambition—raising U.S.-style capital despite early struggles—while influencing the space by standardizing quality for tours, partnering with affiliates, and scaling to unicorn status, paving the way for travel tech unicorns and empowering local economies globally.[2][9][10]
GetYourGuide, now a $2 billion platform with unicorn credentials, is poised to dominate as AI-driven personalization and AR previews enhance discovery, while sustainability-focused experiences align with eco-conscious travel.[5][8] Trends like rising global mobility, short-form video integration for bookings, and expansion into emerging markets will fuel growth, potentially pushing toward IPO or acquisition by travel giants. Its evolution from a student hack to a category leader underscores resilience—watch for deeper tech integrations to unlock even more "moments of wonder," solidifying its role in making every trip unforgettable.[7][9][10]
