After Big Funding, Travel Engine Skyscanner Joins Unicorn Club

January 13, 2016, 2:55 AM UTC
General Views Of Airports As Consumers Spend More On Travel And Tourism
The silhouettes of travelers are seen as a United Continental Holdings Inc. plane takes off from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013.
Photograph by Patrick T. Fallon — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Skyscanner, a search engine for flights and hotels, is Scotland’s newest unicorn—a startup worth at least $1 billion—following an announcement on Monday that it has closed $192 million in new funding.

Although the company didn’t publicly disclose its valuation, the Financial Times pegged it at roughly $1.6 billion. Skycanner has been profitable since 2009 and currently has more than 50 million monthly users, the company said in a statement.

Founded in 2003, Skyscanner is a travel search engine that lets users find and book any part of their trips like Kayak, among others. It pulls results from other services like Expedia and Travelocity, along with information directly from airlines and other providers.

Skyscanner says the new funding will help fuel its expansion, and let some of its shareholders sell some of their shares, according to comments made to the Financial Times by CEO Gareth Williams.

The funding came from new investors Artemis, Baillie Gifford, Khazanah, Vitruvian Partners and Yahoo! JAPAN. Skyscanner had previously raised funding from SEP and Sequoia Capital.

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