BRUSELS: Secret Escapes, the travel website that offers its members deals on luxury travel, has raised $60m (£38.7m) of funding to help fuel its expansion into the US and Asia.
The investment round was led by Google Ventures, the tech giant’s seed capital arm that has invested in hundreds of startups including Uber, and Octopus Investments, whose portfolio includes Kabbee, LoveFilm and Zoopla.
Index Ventures and Atlas Ventures, which contributed to Secret Escapes’ £8m funding round in 2012, also participated in the Series C investment.
“The cash injection of $60m will enable Secret Escapes to continue making great strides to replicate the success of our UK business, ultimately helping to bring us closer to our ambition of becoming the number one destination for consumers looking to book their holidays,” said co-founder and chief executive Alex Saint.
“We forecast to be a global multi-billion turnover business by the end of the decade.”
Secret Escapes’ revenues grew at an average annual rate of 260pc between 2011 and 2014, and the Farringdon-based company has seen its membership increase from 4m at the start of last year to 19m today.
