Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 supplied $1.7bn in funding for South Korea-based travel and accommodation services provider Yanolja today.
Founded in 2005, Yanolja initially began as a short-term accommodation services provider before adding hospitality, food, leisure and transportation booking services to its offering, which is accessible through a mobile app.
Yanolja will use the capital to invest in its technology and expand its technology-based services into new markets. It intends to build a global travel platform that leverages artificial intelligence technology and big data to provide more automated and personalised services.
Greg Moon, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, the manager of Vision Fund 2, said: “Powered by AI, we believe Yanolja is a leader in transforming the travel and leisure industry in South Korea through its travel super app approach.”
The company was reportedly in talks with banks to float in a dual public listing in South Korea and abroad that could value it at more than $4bn, according to a Bloomberg report from March this year citing people with knowledge of the matter.
In November 2020, Yanolja appointed Mirae Asset Daewoo as a lead underwriter and Samsung Securities as a co-underwriter for the potential offering.
Yanolja was valued at $1bn in a $180m series D round in mid-2019 backed by online travel platform operator Booking Holdings and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. It had received $53.2m from SkyLake Investment two years earlier and $8.5m from Partners Investment in 2015.