Skift Take
Concur has plenty of loose change for these types of investments, some of which will pay off by spurring innovation and tighter company-to-company relationships.
Hotel digital-marketing firm Buuteeq hopes to expand its customer base in Western Europe and Asia now that it has picked up $10 million in new funding in a round co-led by Madrona Venture Group, and travel and expense specialist Concur.
Photo courtesy of buuteeq
Buuteeq, which has $17 million in funding to date, has its customer base of hotels located primarily in North America and Latin America. The company offers hotels a suite of social, mobile and Web-based marketing solutions geared to grow guest reservations.
This latest investment by Concur follows a spate of investments, dating to 2009, in travel-technology companies, including Yapta, Room77, Cleartrip and RideCharge. Concur acquired TripIt in 2011.
It’s unusual for a travel-tech company such as Concur to play such an activist investment role in other companies.
Singh says Concur seeks to “drive innovation throughout the entire travel eco-system,” and this benefits Concur’s corporate clients.
With the latest funding, Madrona partner Tim Porter and Singh of Concur take seats on the buuteeq board.
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