Danish startup Bownty, which claims to be Europe’s leading aggregator for deals on ‘local experiences’, has raised €3.4 million in Series A funding — money it plans to use to bed down in the existing markets it operates in.
These span Denmark, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, and Portugal. The company currently offering deals in approximately 1,200 cities, aggregated from 100 deal sites, including the likes of Groupon, Living Social, KGB Deals and Wowcher.
Part of that coverage came via acquiring Southern European competitor Yunait last year.
Previously described by Steffen W. Frølund, founder of Bownty, as “the Kayak.com for deals on experiences,” Bownty is a familiar daily deal aggregator play: Consumer can search or browse deals on the site or can Subscribe to receive one daily email that matches their preferences, thus negating the problem of so-called “daily deal fatigue” caused by too many and spammy emails advertising irrelevant deals. There are also apps for iOS and Android.
When asked what the startup plans to do with the additional capital, Frølund tells me it will be spent largely on “marketing in existing markets to increase [our] user base”.
“The hardest part of our business is to handle the large amount of deals and experiences we source properly. Meaning ensuring quality, doing the needed curation and giving consumers relevance when looking for our content,” he adds.
Meanwhile, the new investment, which brings total raised since 2011 to €4.9 million, comes from the British investment fund HOWZAT Partners along with Denmark’s SEED Capital and several business angels including Pia Vemmelund, Managing Director at momondo and Chairman of Bownty.