Hopper (company) explained

Hopper
Type:Private
Industry:Travel
Hq Location City:Montreal
Hq Location Country:Canada
Area Served:Worldwide
Key People:Frederic Lalonde (CEO)
Revenue Year:2023
Num Employees:1,200
Num Employees Year:2023

Hopper, Inc. is a travel booking app and online travel marketplace that sells flights, hotels, rental cars, and short-term rentals.[1] The company is headquartered in Montreal, Canada and Boston, Massachusetts.[2]

History

Hopper was founded in April 2007 by Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk, both of whom were executives at Expedia Group.[3] [4] It started as a travel planning tool with which a user could search for different places and activities.[4]

In 2012, Dakota Smith joined as a third co-founder and the company received $12 million in Series B funding from investment funds such as OMERS and Atlas Venture.[5]

In January 2014, Hopper was launched after developing its platform for over six years as a startup and new technology incubator.[4] During the development phase between 2007 and 2014, Hopper developed technology that crawled over two billion web pages for travel-related information and added it to Hopper database.[4] In April 2014, Seth Kugel published an article that covered Hopper's online research reports that gave details on how travelers could optimize their travel costs.[6] Hopper shifted its business model in May 2014, becoming a big data-driven website that helped travelers choose where to fly and when to buy their tickets.[2]

In January 2015, the app was launched with functions such as flight price prediction and real-time price monitoring.[7]

In March 2016, $62 million was received in funding to further develop its airfare prediction algorithm.[8] A year later, in 2017, the company expanded its platform by adding a hotel booking service.[9]

In October 2018, the company received an investment of $100 million in funding to expand its services internationally.[10]

In late 2019, the company added fintech-based functions designed to help users optimize their travel costs.[11] In the same year, Hopper launched a sustainability initiative called "Hopper Trees." Within the framework of this program, Hopper funds tree planting for every travel booking made through the company, aiming to offset carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. To facilitate this endeavor, Hopper has partnered with various nonprofit organizations, including Eden Reforestation Projects, which began in 2019, and Veritree, which commenced in 2023.[12] [13]

In March 2021, the company became a unicorn after receiving an investment of $170 million from Capital One.[14] [15] In August 2021, it raised an additional $175 million in a series G funding round led by GPI Capital.[11]

In January 2022, Hopper Homes was launched to provide short-term home rentals.[16] [17] A month later, in February 2022, the company was valued at $5 billion after a $35 million secondary share sale.[18] It received $96 million in additional investment from Capital One in November 2022.[19]

Acquisition history

In late 2019, Hopper acquired a Colombian travel company, named GDX Travel.[15]

In October 2021, the company acquired PlacePass, a Boston-based online booking service.[20] In the same year, Hopper also acquired a trip-planning service, Journy.[21]

In February 2022, a Paris-based merchandising services provider, Smooss, was acquired, for an undisclosed amount.[22]

Technology and applications

Hopper uses machine learning algorithms to dynamically change the price of its fintech offers, which are designed to provide some flexibility for users.[23] Initially, its price-forecasting algorithm that uses historical data to predict flight's price, was designed in 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24] [25]

Hopper applies its technology to give its users some additional fintech functions based on historical data, including "price freezing to protect against pricing volatility",[26] "cancelling or changing flight bookings at short notice",[27] [28] or if a flight is delayed for any reason, changing it without overcharging.[29]

HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions)

In 2021, the company launched its business-to-business initiative HTS,[19] [21] where enterprises can use its white-label travel portals or distribute Hopper's travel and fintech products.[19]

Hopper's customers include Capital One, where Hopper develops its travel booking portal, Capital One Travel.[19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Best Time to Book Holiday Travel? 'Basically Now.'. Glusac. Elaine. 17 October 2022. The New York Times.
  2. Web site: Hopper aiming for more transparent travel search. 5 October 2014. Brian . Hoefling. Boston Business Journal.
  3. Web site: Travel Startup Hopper Seeks $200 Million in Pre-IPO Debt. Gillian . Tan. 30 November 2021. Bloomberg.
  4. Web site: Why Travel Startup Hopper, Founded in 2007, Took So Long To “Launch”. Sarah. Perez. 20 January 2014. TechCrunch.
  5. Web site: Founded By Former Expedia Engineers, Stealthy Travel Startup Hopper Closes $12 Million Series B. Sarah. Perez. 15 August 2012. TechCrunch.
  6. Web site: Crunching the Numbers to find the Best Airfare. Seth. Kugel. The New York Times.
  7. Web site: Hopper’s New Travel App Tells You The Best Time To Fly. 28 January 2015. Sarah. Perez. TechCrunch.
  8. Web site: Hopper raises $62 million in its bid to take over travel . Emma . Hinchliffe . 15 December 2016 . Mashable.
  9. Web site: Hopper expands its airfare-prediction smarts to hotels. 25 October 2017. Paul. Sawers. VentureBeat.
  10. Web site: Hopper raises $100M more for its AI-based travel app, now valued at $780M. 3 October 2018. Ingrid . Lunden. TechCrunch.
  11. Web site: AI-powered travel tech platform Hopper raises $175M. Paul. Sawers. 17 August 2021. VentureBeat.
  12. Web site: App di viaggi pianta un albero quando acquisti un volo . 24 January 2020 . Quotidiano.net.
  13. Web site: Veritree Launches Restorative Coalition: A Bold Initiative to Unite and Empower Businesses Committed to Nature Restoration . 19 September 2023. Yahoo Finance.
  14. Web site: Hopper Travel App Reaches Unicorn Status After Capitol One. 24 March 2021. Bloomberg.
  15. Web site: How travel unicorn Hopper went from mass layoffs to doubling revenue . Jessica. Mathews. 14 September 2021. Fortune.
  16. Web site: Goldman-Backed Hopper Muscles Into Airbnb’s Rental Territory. Nikki . Ekstein. 27 January 2022. Bloomberg.
  17. Web site: Hopper wants to challenge Airbnb with short-term vacation rentals. Sam. Rutherford. 28 January 2022. Engadget.
  18. Web site: Travel booking app Hopper upgrades its valuation to $5B on secondary sale. Ingrid . Lunden . 3 February 2022 . TechCrunch.
  19. Web site: Travel app Hopper raises $96M from Capital One to double down on social commerce. Kyle. Wiggers. 7 November 2022. TechCrunch.
  20. Web site: Hopper acquires experience-booking service based in Boston. 19 October 2021. Boston Globe.
  21. Web site: Hopper. Travel Weekly.
  22. Web site: Tech update: Embracing a 4-day work week, crop planning on the farm goes digital and other news. 24 February 2022. Andrew . Yates. Toronto Star.
  23. Web site: Hopper Sells Travel But Its Fintech Hedging Drives the Growth. Dennis . Schaal. 21 July 2021. Skift.
  24. Web site: Hopper’s airfare-prediction app just got a whole lot more useful. Paul. Sawers. 21 July 2016. VentureBeat.
  25. Web site: Hopper can now predict cheaper hotel booking times in addition to flights. 25 October 2017. Shannon . Liao. The Verge.
  26. Web site: Hopper adds new price freeze, cancellation, and air protection options. Robert. Silk. 7 June 2022. Travel Weekly.
  27. Web site: Online Travel Hopper’s Metamorphosis From Flight Selling to Fintech. Sean. O’Neill . 17 August 2021. Skift.
  28. Web site: Travel app Hopper launches new offerings to give users more flexibility before and during trips. Aisha . Malik. 7 June 2022. TechCrunch.
  29. Web site: Hopper is building its 'super app' origin story now . Robert. Silk. 19 June 2022. Travel Weekly.