Woqu.com
Online travel platform for Chinese outbound tourists.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
$20.0m | Series B | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Woqu.com is an online travel agency specifically targeting outbound Chinese tourists. The company was founded in 2014 by Huang Zhiwen, former president of Mangocity.com, and Leo Wang. Initially, the platform focused exclusively on the U.S. market, offering a comprehensive suite of services including personalized itineraries, hotel bookings, car rentals, visa assistance, travel insurance, and local activities. The business model is centered on establishing direct relationships with suppliers to eliminate intermediary costs.
The company secured multi-million dollar Series A funding from Morningside Ventures shortly after its launch in April 2014, followed by a significant $20 million Series B round led by Tencent in September of the same year. This funding was aimed at developing mobile services and expanding its destination offerings to include countries like Australia, New Zealand, and in Europe. By March 2017, Woqu announced a merger with Lulutrip, a travel service for overseas Chinese tourists, and simultaneously raised $25 million in a Series C (or B+) funding round. This merger formed the i++ Travel Group, which operates multiple brands to serve different segments of the Chinese traveler market. At that time, Woqu offered over 6,700 personalized itineraries across nearly 400 destinations in 56 countries.
Keywords: outbound tourism, Chinese travelers, online travel agency, travel booking, personalized itineraries, US travel, Australia travel, visa services, local tours, travel insurance, car rentals, hotel booking, Lulutrip, i++ Travel Group, Huang Zhiwen