Rome2Rio

Rome2Rio is an Australian online multimodal transport journey planner offering traveling services globally.[1] The company is based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned by the German online travel comparison and booking website Omio.

Rome2Rio
FoundedSeptember 2010 (2010-09)
HeadquartersMelbourne,
Australia
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerOmio
Founder(s)Michael Cameron
Bernhard Tschirren
IndustryTravel website
Search engine

History

Rome2Rio was founded by Bernhard Tschirren and Dr. Michael Cameron, two ex-Microsoft software engineers. The site was born out of their frustrations with the lack of a fast, easy-to-use, and comprehensive multi-modal search engine with global coverage.[2]

The two co-founders began work on the product in September 2010 and won the Melbourne Azure Bizspark Camp Award in February 2011.[3]

The beta version of Rome2Rio was launched on 7 April 2011.[4][5]

Rod Cuthbert, the founder of Viator, became CEO in May 2012 as the company raised $450,000.[6][7]

Rome2Rio won the People's Choice Award at Phocuswright 2012,[8] the TRAVELtech Global Collect Website of the Year in 2013,[9] the Data Specialist Award at the 2015 WITovation Awards[10] and the Best Metasearch Award at the 2016 Travolution Awards.[11]

The company raised $2.8 million in funding including a 2014 grant of $1.2 million from Commercialization Australia.[12]

In July 2015, it announced that support for its white label product would cease in January 2016, citing pressure on development resources brought on by rapid growth in its consumer business.[13] The company initially offered both white-label products and application programming interface options for partners wishing to integrate its multi-modal results into websites and mobile apps.[14]

In 2016, the company added direct booking options.[15]

In April 2017, Rod Cuthbert became Executive Chairman, Michael Cameron became CEO and Bernie Tschirren was made Chief Architect. Kirsteene Phelan became COO.[16]

In November 2017, Rome2Rio moved to a new headquarters in Richmond, Melbourne's digital quarter.[17]

In July 2019, Craig Penfold joins the company as Chief Technology Officer.

In October 2019, Rome2Rio was acquired by Omio, a Berlin-based travel booking platform.[18][19]

In January 2020, Yeswanth Munnangi took over as CEO of Rome2Rio, and Michael Cameron joined the board of directors.

References
  1. Leo, Jen (5 January 2014). "Rome2Rio.com shows travelers how to get from here to there". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035.
  2. May, Kevin (7 April 2011). "TLabs Showcase – Rome2Rio". Phocuswire.
  3. "Rome2Rio's pitch wins first prize at the Azure BizSpark Camp!". Twitter. 6 February 2011.
  4. Tsotsis, Alexia (7 April 2011). "Rome2Rio Is Google Maps With Airfare, Train And Driving Options". TechCrunch.
  5. Ha, Anthony (7 April 2011). "Rome2Rio launches travel search with planes, trains, and automobiles". VentureBeat.
  6. May, Kevin (29 May 2012). "Rome2Rio grabs $450,000 investment round, appoints ex-Viator boss as interim CEO". Phocuswire.
  7. WAUTERS, ROBIN (29 May 2012). "Travel search firm Rome2Rio goes B2B, raises $450k and appoints interim CEO". The Next Web.
  8. "Phocuswright Conference : 2012 Travel Innovation Summit Alumni". Northstar Travel Group.
  9. KELLY, MARTIN (19 September 2013). "Rome2Rio Beats Strong Field to Win Website of the Year". Travel Trends. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  10. Yong, Danielle (20 October 2015). "Tearjerker in Thailand and karaoke-basketball fusion win at WITovation Awards". Northstar Travel Group.
  11. "Travolution Awards: Winners revealed". Travolution. 30 November 2016.
  12. KELLY, MARTIN (2 July 2014). "Rome2Rio Gets Another $1.2 million in Govt Funding". Travel Trends. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  13. May, Kevin (15 July 2015). "Rome2Rio axes white label to prioritise own consumer brand". Phocuswire.
  14. Bryant, Martin (7 February 2013). "Multi-Modal Travel Search Engine Rome2Rio Opens Up Free API Access". The Next Web.
  15. Cowen, Martin (15 May 2017). "Rome2Rio ramps up direct booking options". Phocuswire.
  16. Cameron, Michael (24 April 2017). "As growth continues, new roles at Rome2Rio". Rome2Rio.
  17. Cameron, Michael (6 December 2017). "Rome2Rio graduates to new headquarters in Digital Richmond". Rome2Rio.
  18. Lomas, Natasha (31 October 2019). "Omio buys Rome2Rio to build out its global travel aggregator business". TechCrunch.
  19. Schaal, Dennis (31 October 2019). "Omio Buys Rival Rome2Rio in Mashup of Door-to-Door Booking Sites". Skift.
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