Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a metasearch engine and travel agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1] The site is available in over 30 languages and is used by 100 million people per month.[1][4] The company lets people research and book travel options for their trips, including flights, hotels and car hire.[1]

Skyscanner Ltd.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTravel
Founded(2003 (2003))[1]
Founders
  • Gareth Williams
  • Barry Smith
  • Bonamy Grimes
Headquarters
Edinburgh, Scotland
,
UK
Key people
Revenue£261 million (2016)[2]
Number of employees
1,000+ (2021)[3]
ParentTrip.com Group
Websiteskyscanner.com

History

The company was formed in 2003[1] by three information technology professionals, Gareth Williams, Barry Smith, and Bonamy Grimes, after Gareth was frustrated by the difficulties of finding cheap flights to ski resorts.[5] Skyscanner was first developed and released in 2002. In 2003, the first employee was hired to assist with site development. The Edinburgh office was opened in 2004.[6]

In 2008, Skyscanner received first round funding of £2.5 million from venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners (SEP).[7]

In 2009, the year after SEP invested in the business, Skyscanner reported its first profit.[8]

In 2011, Skyscanner acquired Zoombu.[9] Skyscanner opened an office in Singapore in September 2011, which is headquarters for its Asia-Pacific operations.[10] In 2012, a Beijing office was added, as Skyscanner began a partnership with Baidu, China's largest search engine.[11]

By 2013, the company employed over 180 people.[12] In February 2013, Skyscanner announced plans to open a United States base in Miami.[12] In October 2013, Sequoia Capital purchased an interest in Skyscanner that valued the company at $800 million.[13] In June 2014, Skyscanner acquired Youbibi, a travel search engine company based in Shenzhen, China.[14]

In October 2014, Skyscanner acquired the Budapest-based mobile app developer Distinction.[15]

By February 2015, the company employed 600 people, double the employment of 18 months earlier.[16]

In January 2016, the company raised $192 million based on a $1.6 billion valuation for the company.[17]

In November 2016, a Chinese company Trip.com Group (formerly Ctrip) bought Skyscanner for $1.75 billion.[18] Following the sale to Ctrip, Skyscanner's largest shareholder, SEP, completed its exit from the business.[19]

In 2017, Ctrip bought the Trip.com domain and launched Trip.com. The original platform became a subsidiary of Skyscanner.[20]

In 2020, the company announced that they would be laying off 300 employees after COVID-19 rocked the travel industry. This represented 20 per cent of their staff with two offices in Budapest, Hungary and Sofia, Bulgaria, likely to shut down.[21]

In 2022, Huawei and Skyscanner forms a partnership to bring various travel services Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) and Petal Search and Petal Maps.[22]

References
  1. "About Skyscanner". skyscanner.com.
  2. Field, Matthew (4 October 2019). "Skyscanner soars to record revenues under Chinese ownership". The Telegraph.
  3. "United by a love of travel".
  4. O'Hear, Steve (28 September 2012). "Skyscanner's Mobile Apps Hit 10M Downloads, Letting Users Find Cheap Flights On The Go". TechCrunch.
  5. Trapp, Roger (18 February 2006). "How to launch a great business". The Independent.
  6. "In pictures: inside Skyscanner's head office". The Scotsman. 17 February 2015.
  7. "Skyscanner Lands VC Funding to Build World's Leading Flight Search Engine". Skyscanner's Travel Blog. 20 January 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  8. "Travel firm secures major investment". BBC News. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  9. Butcher, Mike (17 January 2011). "Travel search engine Skyscanner acquires Zoombu". TechCrunch.
  10. "Skyscanner to set up operation in Singapore". BBC News. 26 June 2011.
  11. "Skyscanner lands China search engine deal". BBC News. 23 August 2012.
  12. "Flight firm Skyscanner moves in to America". BBC News. 4 February 2012.
  13. "Skyscanner valued at $800m by backer of Apple". The Evening Standard. 3 October 2013.
  14. "Skyscanner buys Chinese metasearch firm Youbibi". BBC News. 25 June 2014.
  15. O'Hear, Steve (22 October 2014). "Travel Search Company Skyscanner Acquires Budapest-Based Mobile App Developer Distinction". TechCrunch.
  16. Russell, Jon (23 February 2015). "Skyscanner optimistic as revenue growth slows". Financial Times.
  17. Shu, Catherine (12 January 2016). "Travel Search Site Skyscanner Raises $192M For International Expansion". TechCrunch.
  18. Dickie, Mure (23 November 2016). "China's Ctrip is buying flight search company SkyScanner for $1.74 billion". TechCrunch.
  19. "Scottish Equity Partners exits Skyscanner following £1.4 billion sale". Growth Business. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  20. Bort, Julie (1 November 2017). "Tiny startup Trip.com has been acquired by Chinese travel giant Ctrip – a move that could shake up the travel industry". Business Insider.
  21. Rafiah, Moshe (14 July 2020). "A Skyscanner update". Skyscanner.
  22. Sarkar, Amy (26 May 2022). "Huawei and Skyscanner partners for Petal Search integration". HuaweiCentral. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
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