Whoa, so Alven Capital has been a pretty busy bee this year – especially for a French fund. This is something like the 5th investment that the fund has announced since January, totalling over €8.5 million ($12.25 million) invested in companies like Entropysoft, HappyView, MobPartner and QuelleEnergie. Today’s investment of €1 million ($1.4 million) goes to custom travel site, Planetveo.
This is a follow-up investment after Alven’s initial investment of €2.5 million in 2008. The company founded in 2007 is a competitor of Evaneos, a company that was backed by ISAI in February. Offering over 31 destinations worldwide – including Brazil, Japan, India, Chili, Kenya, etc. – Planetveo allows internet users to custom-build their vacations. And just as with Evaneos, Planetveo’s model is very dependent on professional editorial content and personalized customer service.
Now, with an additional €1 million in its pocket, Planetveo plans to add new locations and double the size of its 50-person team before the end of the year. The company is also expecting a turnover of €20 million ($28.9 million) this year.