Peek.com Announces $80 Million Series C Investment from WestCap and Goldman Sachs to Power the 2022 Travel Comeback
November 23, 2021
North America
The leading experiences platform has had nearly $2 billion in bookings & served 35 million customers; businesses see a 30% increase in revenue with Peek.com’s technology
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – November 23, 2021- Peek.com, the leading experiences booking software and marketplace, today announced an $80 million Series C investment led by WestCap, a growth equity firm founded by former Airbnb and Blackstone executive, Laurence A. Tosi, with Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Earlier investors include Jack Dorsey, Eric Schmidt, Kayak founder Paul English, and Cathay Innovation. Peek.com will use the capital to triple the team size and expand its product offerings.
The company has been growing rapidly despite the global pandemic. With nearly $2 billion in bookings of experiences, the Peek.com platform combines powerful business software with an award-winning marketplace for consumers to book fun things to do (think: wine tours, watersports, skydiving, and art classes). Peek Pro provides world-class online booking, point-of-sale, and hundreds of automation tools such as inventory management, dynamic pricing, waivers, and marketing analytics. Thousands of operators like the Museum of Ice Cream, Artechouse and Pennekamp State Park have supercharged their revenues and automated operations with this all-inclusive technology.
Just as the e-commerce industry saw a ten-year tech leap forward, the pandemic has sparked a rapid digital transformation in offline industries. Fueled by consumers’ pent-up demand and mobile use combined with tech’s success with contactless payment in retail and restaurants, the travel and experiences industry was pressured to quickly digitize its commercial activity.
“Peek.com has become the gold standard for high-volume ticketing and online sales,” said Tina Malhotra, CEO of Color Factory, which sees nearly a million visitors every year. “Every detail of the platform is so well thought out – from bookings on our website to on-site guest experience to advanced analytics. Peek.com allows us to provide a world-class experience for our guests and team alike. The decision to select Peek.com was ultimately an easy one.”
“After helping thousands of travel and local businesses survive the pandemic, we’ve now been arming them with the digitization tools needed to scale and meet the massive demand in 2022,” said Ruzwana Bashir, CEO and co-founder of Peek.com. “Our vision to connect people to share memorable experiences is now more important than ever before.”
“We have been early adopters and investors in travel technology companies, and have been following Peek.com for years,” said Laurence A. Tosi, Founder and Managing Partner at WestCap. “Ruzwana Bashir is a dynamic leader and Peek.com’s unique approach has allowed them to serve millions of people. This is a transformative solution that will allow a wider audience of travelers and locals to have meaningful experiences, and for activity operators to grow their businesses.”
Simon Wu, Investment Director at Cathay Innovation: “The travel and experiences sector is finally having its digital transformation moment with Peek emerging as a leader by democratizing access to best-in-class technology. The company is attracting a growing number of large enterprises thanks to its scalable, easy-to-deploy, feature-rich platform that can address more local and online experiences as well as its offerings of demand generation, embedded financial services, and other digitization tools that optimize operations for the new era.”
Alongside WestCap and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, investors participating in the round include 3L, Cathay Innovation, I2BF Global Ventures, Manta Ray and Apeiron. Peek.com has attracted seasoned senior execs and top talent from Uber, Kayak, Expedia, SeatGeek, and more. The remote-first company plans to triple the team in 2022 and will announce several major updates over the coming months.
About Peek.com
With nearly $2 billion in bookings, Peek.com is the leading experiences booking software and marketplace. Its powerful software enables operators to better manage and grow their businesses, and the award-winning marketplace is full of memorable things to do from skydiving in Montana to a cooking class in New York. The company has raised over $100 million from top travel and tech investors such as WestCap, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jack Dorsey and Eric Schmidt. Learn more at www.peek.com.