(Editor’s note: This post on Bessemer’s investment in Turneo is part of our Tech Tuesday series. Dispatches covers tech because so many of our highly skilled internationals are engineers and entrepreneurs.)
Croatia’s startup scene is continuing to gain traction as more investors begin noticing the homegrown talent. Turneo, a tourism startup, is the latest Croatian enterprise to earn a capital injection from an American investment firm. In this case, it’s no less than Bessemer Venture Partners, based in San Francisco, the same Silicon Valley venture capital/private equity giant to invest significant capital into the likes of Shopify, Pinterest and even LinkedIn.
Turneo’s primary focus is on what’s known as “experience tourism,” setting it apart from what Croatia as a country does best – tourism – with a special niche for which it has become known.
Domagoj Puljizovic at Croatia’s Business Diary revealed that the successful Turneo had announced the closing of an early stage investment round of 2 million euros led by Bessemer, with participation by Bucharest, Romania-based Underline Ventures.
This seed round will enable Turneo to scale up globally, to expand its footprint and enable more hotels to offer in-destination activities. Those include guest tours, activities and experiences that stand out from the “norm” at each respective destination, according to a media release.
The Bessemer round will enable the startup to expand its workforce, expand into global markets and upgrade offerings.
Keeping traverlers active and entertained
Turneo is only two years old. Founded in 2022, it enables hotels to manage their offer of activities in any given destination in one place. Guests are then free to view and book activities and transfers via the hotel’s website or app, making it streamlined and simple. At the same time, it provides hotels with a unique platform on which the entire offer of hotel activities, as well as the activities of any external partners, is managed.
This includes creating and publishing new activities, collaborating with service providers, as well as reviewing and analyzing data and guest reviews in order to alter their direction as trends and seasons change.
Being a tourism-oriented country, Croatia was the logical “launch” market for homegrown Turneo. They have cooperated with the largest hotel companies in the country, from where they began expanding to the global market.
Owing to Turneo’s presence, guests staying at numerous hotels across Croatia, such as those operated by Aminess, Falkensteiner, Liburnija, Maistra, Plava Laguna and others can book wine tastings, boat tours and endless things Croatia offers its guests. They can also choose from activities on offer within the hotel itself.
“Modern-day tourists tend to plan their activities before arriving at a destination, and many actually choose the destination according to the offers they see,” stated Fran Kauzlarić, Turneo’s co-founder.
“With what we offer, hotels can present their destinations to their guests in a simple way and easily manage their offer of activities,” he added. For hotels, this means happier guests, more revenue and less operational friction.
Helping clients find new revenue
Kauzlarić called the data from 2024’s tourist season “fantastic. Guests who booked activities using Turneo’s technology rated hotels on average 8-percent higher on review sites, and more than two-thirds of the guests who booked activities at their hotels using Turneo did so online.”
There’s been significant growth in the tours and activities market in recent years, and the market is projected to reach $463 billion by 2030. Turneo predicts that $172 billion dollars will pass precisely through hotels.
“We’re thrilled to have the support of investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and Underline Ventures,” said Matija Marijan, Turneo’s CEO and co-founder. “This investment confirms our enormous market potential as well as our vision. It allows us to grow our operations, advance our tech and establish key partnerships to enable more hotels to offer their guests incredible activities.”
Bessemer Venture Partners, a global leader in early stage venture capital, recognized Turneo’s potential in tourism after earlier investments in companies such as Shopify, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Skype. In addition to capital, the partnership with Bessemer places Turneo at the very heart of the transformation of the travel industry, where the fund’s expertise will contribute to guiding the company towards becoming a global leader.
“Historically, rooms have been the main source of revenue for hotels. However, people’s preferences have changed a lot, and room sales alone are no longer enough,” said Aditya Nidmarti, an investor at Bessemer Venture Partners who joins Turneo’s board of directors with the investment. Turneo fits perfectly into this market shift, enabling hotels to seamlessly create, manage and monetize guest experiences “be that indulging in spa treatments or taking a tour,” Nidmarti added.
“This startup is uniquely positioned to transform the way people experience travel and how hotels enhance the destinations they serve,” said Alex Ferrara, another partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, who previously led a 2010 Series A round for Shopify.
Here come the Americans
This U.S.-based fund, known for its key role in the growth of Shopify, sees Turneo as the next big disruptor in the travel tech space. In fact, Bessemer’s entry into Croatia is notable because though it only has a relatively modest $20 billion under management (the largest American VCs have in excess of $50 billion), it’s still one of the Top 10 largest global VC firms as well as one of the oldest and most venerable American funds.
Bessemer was founded in 1911 to manage the fortune of Carnegie Steel co-founder Henry Phipps, Jr. It only opened to outside limited partners in 1974, according to Wikipedia.
Today, Bessemer has offices in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Bangalore and Beijing. The main investment categories are SaaS, cloud computing, cybersecurity, healthcare, enterprise software and financial services.
The entry of such an august VC/private equity player could transform Croatia’s tech ecosystem. You heard it here first.
Lauren Simmonds
Lauren is the editor of Total Croatia News, the largest English language portal in Croatia. She lives in Zagreb, Croatia, and is a translator, content writer, interpreter and the co-author of Croatia - A Survival Kit for Foreigners, which was published in 2022.
