Mike Volpe-led business travel startup Lola.com raised $37 million in a series C round led by existing investors General Catalyst and Accel. Charles River Ventures, Tenaya Capital and Google Ventures also participated in the round. This round brings the company's total venture capital raised to $82 million.
The company will use the funds to double headcount this year, as well as further technology efforts as part of its commercial partnership with American Express Global Business Travel GBT. As the company told BostInno earlier this year, Lola.com plans to grow its headcount from 75 to 150 and is hiring for roles in engineering, product management, sales and marketing.
Lola.com CEO Mike Volpe confirmed that the company will triple the size of its engineering and sales teams for serving its clientele that includes startups like the electric toothbrush maker, Quip, conversational marketing startup Drift and market intelligence software maker Crayon and more.
"The thing that excites me most is the great feedback from customers," Volpe said. "Customers have awesome things to say, it's much easier to grow when you have happy customers."
When the company was first founded in 2015, it was focused on improving consumer travel sites with a mobile app that combined AI with human travel agents. It now sells corporate travel-management software to U.S. companies with fewer than 500 employees.
In 2018, Lola.com clocked in 423 percent growth in annual travel bookings, 786 percent in revenue growth and added key executives to its sales and marketing teams. The company recently hired Chris Stasonis as VP of engineering from Yaymaker, the creators of Paint Nite.
The startup’s partnership with American Express Global Business Travel signed in November 2018 is poised to bring millions in revenue over the next five years. The two-way partnership enables American Express GBT to resell Lola.com’s travel management software to its customers, and Lola.com will offer American Express GBT’s wide range of travel deals and perks to its customers.
