Welcome Pickups, a travel tech startup based in Greece, has secured €5.3 million in funding from existing investors — Market One Capital, Flashpoint and Venture Friends. The company will use the fund to expand to North and South America.
Founded in 2015, Welcome Pickups aims to provide travelers with a customized travel experience. Using technology to automate all processes, the startup has successfully reduced the number of face-to-face interactions per booking by eight times.
The company has served over one million travelers and recently added over 30 new locations to its 100 global destinations. These include Greece, Jordan, Indonesia and Mexico. The startup plans “to double its destination network.”
CEO Alex Trimis explained that Welcome Pickups would also use the fund to introduce new products to continue to offer a personalized and inclusive travel experience.
“The additional funding will be used to accelerate the company’s geographical reach with a goal to double its destination network, focusing strongly on launching new destinations in North and South America,” Trimis said.
“A portion of the funds will also go to further improving customer experience and developing new products to support the company’s mission of creating a complete, personalised, and inclusive in-destination travel experience for all.”
Welcome Pickups is also the developer of Welcome for Hotels, a hotel transfer solution used by over 1500 hotels. The app allows guests to experience their hotel stay as soon as they leave the airport.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has been profitable for the past 18 months. Welcome Pickups attributes its success to its seamless processes and automated operations.
Welcome Pickups had previously raised €3.3 million In 2019. VentureFriends, Market One Capital, Howzat, Jabbar and Openfund were among the companies participating in the capital-raising round. The startup used the fund to expand its core team and improve its services.
