Hurb

Hurb (formerly Hotel Urbano)[4] Founded in January, 2011 by João Ricardo Mendes, Hurb was valued at R$ 2.6 billion or approximately US$590 million when Booking Holdings purchased a small percentage for US$60 million in 2016.[5][6][7] Its headquarters are in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Porto and Montreal.

Hurb Technologies
Founded2011 (2011) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Headquarters
OwnerJoão Ricardo Mendes, Priceline.com and Tiger Global
Founder(s)Joao Ricardo Mendes
ChairmanJoao Ricardo Mendes
PresidentJoao Ricardo Mendes
CEOJoao Ricardo Mendes
Key people
IndustryTravel Technology
ServicesTravel agency
RevenueR$4.500.000.000,00
Employees800
DivisionsTechnology, Travel, Mobility, Education
URLhurb.com

History

The company was initially founded as a collective buying website in 2011.[6] It was operated under this business model for only 5 months. Also in 2011, the two brothers repositioned the company in the market, and it then began operating as an online travel agency with focus on short-term off-season packages. In this new model, lodging rates are reduced in up to 40% compared to high-season rates.[5][6][8]

In a few rounds of investment, American fund companies Insight Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management invested in the company. They are known to have invested in companies such as Facebook, Netflix and LinkedIn.[5][6][9]

The company began marketing hotel accommodations and international travel packages. In 2013, it offered hotels and travel packages to 35,000 destinations in over 180 countries.[9]

The company's Facebook page is the most popular tourism page in the world (with 12 million fans) and is the 4th most popular page in Brazil.[9][10][11][12][13]

2014 to present

By the end of 2014, the company had formed a partnership with Rock in Rio and became the only Brazilian company to market travel packages to the two festival editions in 2015.[14][15]

In the beginning of 2015, the company formed a partnership with RentalCars.com that allowed it to market car reservation and rental services in over 26 thousand destinations in 180 countries.[10][16]

The company implemented an Administrative Council in 2015, made up of independent members. These members are: Derek Zissman, former director of the KPMG group in the UK; Stelleo Tolda, executive vice-president and operations director at Mercado Livre; Leonardo Rocha, a business executive who has worked at Telefônica, Ponto Frio and Camargo Corrêa. The Council also includes the participation of João Ricardo Mendes and José Eduardo Mendes, founders of the company, and Brad Twohig, managing partner, and Elodie Dupuy, vice-president of Insight Venture Partners, an investment fund company that has led three rounds of investments in the company.[17][18]

Also in 2015, Booking Holdings invested US$60 million the company and gained a minority stake in the business.[19] This partnership aimed to expand the company's operations, especially in Latin America, through the global network of more than 780 thousand lodging partners who benefit from Priceline.com.[20][21][22][23]

In September 2023, the Department for Consumer Protection and Defense of Rio de Janeiro (Procon-RJ) imposed a fine of R$ 407,000 on the travel website Hurb for non-compliance with offers and abusive practices.[24]

References
  1. "CEO da Hurb renuncia depois de xingar e expor cliente". Forbes Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  2. "CEO do Hurb deixa o cargo após xingar cliente em grupo no WhatsApp". Bloomberg Línea Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  3. "Hurb on LinkedIn: HURB - MOVING FOWARD". LinkedIn (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  4. "Hotel Urbano prevê faturar R$ 100 milhões com novo app" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  5. "O Hotel Urbano é a Netshoes do turismo" (in Portuguese). Exame. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  6. "Do zero ao bilhão" (in Portuguese). Exame PME. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  7. Revista Exame, Ed. Abril, "Já vale 2 bilhões de reais", September 2, 2015, pp. 30. (in Portuguese)
  8. Revista Forbes, Ed. Forbes, "Prodigiosos", February 1, 2014, pp. 52. (in Portuguese)
  9. "Brazilian Vacation Bookings Goliath HotelUrbano Gets $20M Third Round Led By IVP". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  10. "Hotel Urbano firma parceria com RentalCars.com e Priceline para oferecer aluguel de carros em todo o mundo" (in Portuguese). Segs. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  11. "Hotel Urbano promove concurso do maior grito de "FÉÉÉÉRIIIIAAAS" no Facebook" (in Portuguese). Portal da Propaganda. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  12. "A ASCENSÃO DO HOTEL URBANO NO MERCADO DE TURISMO ONLINE" (in Portuguese). Época Negócios. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  13. "As marcas brasileiras com mais fãs no Facebook em novembro" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  14. "Hotel Urbano planeja crescer 58% em 2015" (in Portuguese). Brasil Economico. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  15. "Hotel Urbano será agência de viagens oficial do Rock in Rio" (in Portuguese). UOL. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  16. "Priceline's Rentalcars.com Could Be the Next Big Thing". Skift. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  17. "Hotel Urbano cria Conselho de Administração para abrir capital" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  18. "Hotel Urbano cria Conselho com vistas à abertura de capital" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  19. "Hotel Urbano recebe aporte de R$ 120 milhões para expandir operação" (in Portuguese). Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  20. "Grupo Priceline investe US$ 60 mi no Hotel Urbano" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  21. "Priceline partners with Hotel Urbano, invests $60M". Vator News. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  22. "Priceline Pours $60 Million Into Brazil's Hotel Urbano". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  23. "Hotel Urbano e Priceline anunciam parceria estratégica" (in Portuguese). E-commerce News. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  24. "Procon-RJ multa Hurb em R$ 400 mil por descumprimento de oferta e prática abusiva" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.