Tourism technology business Travelnest has received an initial £3 million in funding from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
The growth capital, alongside new funds from existing investors, should allow the Edinburgh-based company to target new markets and increase its service offering.
Travelnest allows the owners of holiday homes to reach bigger audiences by pulling together multiple consumer booking channels into one place.
The bank’s investment should support job creation, while helping to scale up the business to take advantage of the post-pandemic recovery in tourism internationally.
Mark Munro, executive director for sustainable investment at the bank, said: “Travelnest is an exciting company in the travel technology sector with significant potential to scale up globally.”
“The investment substantiates Edinburgh and Scotland as one of the UK’s fastest growing tech hubs and an incubator for technology businesses, aligning with the bank’s innovation mission and supports key elements of the Scottish Technology and Ecosystem Review as well as the National Strategy for Economic Transformation initiatives by supporting an entrepreneurial-oriented technology business and the creation of skilled roles.”
At the end of 2020, TravelNest secured £1.8m from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Scottish Enterprise to help drive ‘staycation’ growth during the pandemic.
This was comprised of a £1.5m Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme loan from SVB and £300,000 from Scottish Enterprise’s Early Stage Growth Challenge Fund.
The first full year of operations for the Scottish National Investment Bank has seen a substantial recruitment programme, many operational systems put in place, and £194.4m committed across 14 mission-aligned investments in projects and businesses.
Sarah Roughead, interim chief executive, said: “I am immensely proud of what the Bank has achieved in the last 12 months.
“Considerable progress has been made in investing in innovative and scaling businesses - the bank has delivered direct investment from £1m to £30m and has co-invested alongside a number of private sector investors, leveraging additional capital.
“The Bank has recruited a strong team against the backdrop of Covid-19 and is well positioned to embed the strong foundations it has built and to deliver its strategic objectives and further mission-aligned investments.’’
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