Zoombu, a door-to-door travel search engine, has been recently acquired by Skyscanner, for an undisclosed amount. This is Skyscanner’s first acquisition, which strengthens the company’s market share. Current competitors include Kayak.com, Dohop, Travelocity, Orbitz, CheapOair, OneTravel, Mobissimo – and today’s deal is a sign that Skyscanner gets stronger and stronger in its niche.
Skyscanner itself is a travel search engine, quite popular in Europe. Currently, the engine offers only flight, hotels and car hire on site. With Zoombu, Skyscanner’s offer extends with thousands of options, including flights, trains, ferries, coaches, driving, car hire, and airport car parking. Plus, there is the Zoombu “door-to-door” approach, considered by many the way of the future.
“Covering other travel options on the Skyscanner site is something we’ve wanted to do from the start, but air travel is a complex area and we wanted to get that right before expanding into other transport options. Zoombu is an ideal fit for Skyscanner,” said Gareth Williams, Skyscanner CEO. “We really like the Zoombu team – they, and the technology, are very impressive and we’re delighted they’re joining us.”
Skyscanner will be first adding Zoombu’s rail travel to its roster of services, but the company hasn’t yet disclosed what would follow afterworlds.
For Zoombu, the deal is as sweet as it gets:
“This is a very exciting move for the Zoombu team,” said Zoombu co-founder Rachel Armitage. “Our strengths lie in the product and technology development. By combining forces with such an established and respected online travel search company we get a fast track route to bringing our vision of a better search experience to a vast user base. We’ve always had a lot of admiration for the Skyscanner product and the team behind it and we are really looking forward to the opportunities ahead.”
Indeed, a smart move for both companies. Only together can small travel sites compete against the like of Expedia and Orbitz.