Holidayme, the promising Dubai-based startup has received two prestigious awards in a week.
The first one came in at this year’s edition of the Arab World by Forbes Middle East Forum. The booking site ranked third among the leading startups in the Gulf. Last year, Holidayme got the fifth place. Subsequently, Holidayme has become the ”Online Business of the Year” at the Gulf Capital’s SME Awards.
Mansour Bin Madi, the co-founder of HolidayME commented he was proud of the achievements and he would continue working hard towards cementing its leading market position.
Founded in 2014, Holidayme offers customized travel solutions across the world. Travel enthusiasts may choose among a wide variety of sightseeing activities, curated itineraries, and various vacation packages created by tourism experts and personalize them in line with their preferences. Furthermore, customers can also opt for different accommodation packages and flights. Holidayme has a rich database of more than 300,000 hotels around the world. Its clients may benefit from several payment options and airport pickups in 300 cities. The company has offices in Dubai, Riyadh, and Pune, employing over 200 people.
In 2016, Holidayme has raised US$7 million in a series A funding from a group of investors located in the Silicon Valley and Saudi Arabia. For the California-based venture capital firm Accel Partners, it was the first investment in the Middle East. Its focus is primarily on e-commerce, software, cloud, infrastructure and consumer services. Previously, the business angel has invested in Dropbox, Flipkart, Spotify, Kayak, and HotelTonight. The Saudi-based F&C Overseas Investment was the other investor who backed Holidayme during the investment round.
That was the second big capital raise for Holidayme since its inception. Previously, it had secured US$4 million in funding. The company used the funding to improve its IT infrastructure and to strengthen its management team.