Dublin travel technology specialist Mobile Travel Technologies (MTT) has raised US$5m from DFJ Esprit. The company works with industry leaders including easyJet, Qantas Group’s Jetstar and Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts.
Founded in 2005, MTT has doubled in size year-on-year since 2009 and has an extensive customer base across Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The financing will support MTT’s expansion into new markets and will also be used to strengthen the team at its headquarters in The Digital Hub in Dublin, at its offices in London and Manila, and as it enters new territories.
MTT powers some of the highest revenue-generating travel m-commerce sites and apps in the world.
The MTT mobile travel platform, ‘M2B’, handles millions of euro in m-commerce revenue per week. easyJet’s deployment of the MTT platform has delivered one of the fastest apps in the world – the app’s speed, combined with its rich user experience, has earned it overwhelmingly 5* user ratings on Apple’s App Store.
“Consumers are rapidly making the switch to the mobile channel, not just for travel bookings but for the complete customer experience,” said Gerry Samuels, founder and CEO, Mobile Travel Technologies.
“Travel brands have a window in which to capture market share and gain customer loyalty through mobile. Our clients benefit from rapid deployment of a complete set of exciting and effective booking and customer service sites and apps across multiple device types, with easy integration into their legacy platforms.”
An Irish-based world leader
DFJ Esprit is the European arm of Tier 1 Silicon Valley-based VC, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). DFJ Esprit has more than US$1.1bn of funds under management, chiefly focused on European high-growth companies. The VC was a key investor in LOVEFiLM, which Amazon acquired last year.
DFJ has invested more than US$7bn in capital commitments and funded well-known technology companies including Baidu, Hotmail (acquired by Microsoft), Overture (acquired by Yahoo!) and Skype (acquired by Microsoft).
In the transaction, MTT was advised by Emmet Scully of LK Shields Solicitors and Gavin Bourke of Nebula Ventures. DFJ Esprit was advised by Colm Rafferty of Maples and Calder.
“MTT has already experienced success with industry giants, such as easyJet and Jumeirah Hotels,” said Brian Caulfield, partner at DFJ Esprit.
“With the unique combination of its strong cross-device mobile app platform, and deep knowledge and experience of the travel technology sector, MTT has the potential to be an Irish-based, world leader in m-commerce for the travel community – an industry worth between US$300m and US$1b p.a.
“DFJ Esprit is working closely with both Enterprise Ireland and the NPRF to support investment in high-potential Irish companies. MTT certainly has high potential and we’re delighted to be involved with the company as it embarks on its ambitious expansion plans.”
