One of the biggest investment rounds in the history of Indian online travel has come to Ibibo Group, owner of the Goibibo online travel agency.

Global web and media company Naspers is backing the company alongside Tencent, the Chinese ecommerce giant.

The group says it is processing over 6.5 million transactions every quarter and is now laying claim to being the largest online travel company in India.

Brands in its portfolio include the flagship Goibibo service, taxi app Ryde, bus ticketing platformRedBus and budget hotel offshoot, GoStays.

The Goibibo OTA saw 400% growth year-on-year in hotel bookings in the third quarter of 2015.

Almost three quarters of bookings were made via a mobile device in December last year, the company says, up from 42% in the same month in 2014.

Naspers Group CEO, Bob van Dijk, says:

“The Indian ecommerce market, and the online travel segment in particular, offers exciting growth prospects for us as a group.

“With a talented, proven management team and exceptional technology, ibibo is well positioned to benefit from an increasing number of people using online travel services going forward.”

Established players in the Indian travel sector have watched closely as Ibibo has quietly ramped up its operations in recent years.

RedBus was bought in June 2013 for a rumoured $138 million – a move that was bolstered nine months later when it acquired bus tracking and analytics service YourBus for an undisclosed fee.

More recently, in August last year, hotel reservation system provider Djubo was on the end of aminority stake investment from Ibibo in a bid to grow its B2B services division for property owners.

CEO Ashish Kashyap says the latest cash injection will be used to “extend Ibibo’s leadership position in the Indian hotels category and on additional technology innovations”.

Read original article