The Venture Codex

Led · Series D · Jun 2019

Yanolja is a Seoul, South Korea-based travel and leisure platform that provides cloud-based services covering accommodation, leisure and transportation. Led by Lee Su Jin, the company leverages IoT, AI, big data and blockchain technologies across its offerings. It supplies automated solutions and personalized services for travelers via its platform. Yanolja plans to use the funds to invest in developing innovative technologies and to expand its technology offerings into new markets. The company intends to build and operate an advanced global travel platform (GTP) by upgrading and enhancing its automated solutions using artificial intelligence and personalized offerings based on big data. Yanolja started as an advertising platform for love hotels and expanded into an app-based booking service, repositioning short-stay properties for younger travelers. The company claims more than 200 hotels in Korea and has expanded overseas through partnerships and investments. It struck a deal to invest $15 million into Rocket Internet‑backed Zen Rooms and has a partnership with Agoda to support its international push. CEO Kim Jong-yoon has said the company is keen to go global, and management has indicated a rough IPO timeframe of 2022. Financially, revenue has grown at an annual rate of over 70% for the past five years; revenue last year was 188.5 billion KRW (about $160 million). The company is growing quickly but is not yet profitable.

Led · Equity · Oct 2018

Grab Financial Group operates as Grab's financial-services arm, delivering digital payments, AutoInvest micro‑investment features, insurance products and other consumer and SME financial services through the Grab app. The unit launched several new financial products for consumers and SMEs in August 2020 and has expanded offerings including micro‑investments and loans. Its revenue grew more than 40% in 2020 versus 2019, driven by consumer adoption of AutoInvest and insurance products. GFG benefits from close operational synergy with Grab, the region’s largest unicorn, which has supported scale and distribution. The broader market for digital financial services in Southeast Asia expanded during the COVID‑19 pandemic, supporting GFG’s growth trajectory. Related strategic moves include Grab-Singtel’s consortium being awarded a full digital-banking license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in December 2020, which could further enable financial-services expansion. Grab began as a ride-hailing service and has expanded into food delivery, hotel booking, and payments. It is especially popular across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The app has been downloaded onto more than 166 million mobile devices in the region. The company has raised nearly $10 billion in total, including a recent over $700 million funding from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has said it wants to make its financial services available to Grab’s users, indicating deeper fintech integration. Grab was founded by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling in June 2012. Grab is a Singapore-based ride-hailing and super app operator that became Southeast Asia’s undisputed ride-hailing leader after acquiring Uber’s regional business. The company offers on-demand services and payments and is pursuing further expansion across markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Grab is exploring a spinout of its financial services business that could attract investors including PayPal and Ant Financial. It is Southeast Asia’s highest-capitalized startup and has been running a large, rolling Series H to fund growth and fend off rivals like Go-Jek. The company has raised $7.5 billion to date following a new $300 million investment from Invesco announced in this article. Prior Series H activity includes a $1 billion capital injection from Toyota last June and contributions that swelled the round to $4.5 billion, with Grab later saying it would add $2 billion to reach a $6.5 billion close. Grab is a Singapore-based ride-hailing company that has expanded into a super app offering mobility, food delivery, parcel delivery, digital payments and financial services. The company is pursuing further platform expansion and plans to build more services on its app across on-demand mobility, delivery and financial services. Recent partnerships include a content streaming tie-up with Hooq and a joint venture with Ping An Good Doctor to develop AI-based medical services. Grab is in an active Series H fundraising process and has attracted significant strategic investors. SoftBank Vision Fund invested $1.46 billion as part of a $4.5 billion Series H round that values the company at about $14 billion, according to CNBC sources. The round also includes strategic capital from automakers Toyota and Hyundai Motor as well as Microsoft, Ping An Capital and OppenheimerFunds, which Grab says demonstrates shareholder and partner interest for continued growth across Southeast Asia. Grab operates ride-hailing, food delivery (Grab Food) and logistics services across eight markets. The company says it has completed three billion rides and claims 130 million downloads. Grab is pursuing an ongoing Series H fundraising, aimed at a sizable capital raise and anchored by a $1 billion investment from Toyota. Other Series H contributors named in reports include Microsoft, Booking Holdings and Yamaha Motors, and SoftBank is transferring its investment to its Vision Fund with plans for further investment. To date Grab has raised $6.8 billion and was most recently valued at $11 billion. The company faces competition from Go-Jek as it expands its regional footprint.

Led · Equity · Jul 2018

Didi Autonomous Driving is the self-driving arm of ride-hailing giant Didi that focuses on Level-4 autonomous vehicle technology and related AI systems. The company has spent nearly a decade building expertise in artificial intelligence, mass production, and large-scale operations for autonomous mobility. In 2025 it began full-scenario, fully unmanned road testing in Beijing and Guangzhou, with vehicles operating smoothly during rush hours, late nights, and heavy rain. A next-generation pre-installed autonomous vehicle, co-developed with GAC Aion, is scheduled for delivery by late 2025, after which Didi plans demonstration applications in both cities. The firm believes L4 autonomy will dramatically improve transportation safety, efficiency, and user experience while opening new employment opportunities. Fresh capital from its recent Series D round will be channelled into AI R&D and the accelerated rollout of L4 services. No revenue, user, or other operating metrics were disclosed in the announcement.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2015

Flightcar operates a valet-based airport car-sharing service that insures and cleans cars while paying owners for each day their vehicle is rented. By September of last year it had struck deals with three airports — San Francisco, Boston, and L.A. — as it pursued rapid expansion. Investors encouraged scaling and the company has raised roughly $40 million to date, including a $20.7M Series B. The business recently underwent a major restructuring that removed two of three founders and multiple senior executives and cut staff from roughly 150 (about 25 corporate employees and 125 valets) to a little more than half that headcount. The restructuring followed customer complaints on Yelp about dirty cars, canceled reservations and service issues during expansion. Acting CMO Julie Sapan said the company is "evolving our model to sharpen our focus and double down on the remarkable organic growth" and that more details will come in the coming year. FlightCar operates a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace that allows people to rent their cars to other travelers instead of leaving them unused at airports. The service is live at San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles airports and has over 30,000 members. Co-founded by CEO Rujul Zaparde (age 19) and Kevin Petrovic (age 20), the company graduated from Y Combinator and The Brandery. FlightCar is based in San Francisco and plans to use new funding to expand into many new locations. The company has received $20M in total funding to date, including the recent $13.5M Series A. FlightCar operates a peer-to-peer airport car rental marketplace that lets departing travelers list their vehicles at airport lots for incoming visitors to rent. Vehicle owners receive gas cards up to $10 per rented day or free parking (saving up to $18 per day) if their car is not rented; FlightCar also provides a free wash for listed cars and a valet service to and from the airport. Cars must have been made by 1999 and have fewer than 150,000 miles to be listed. The service is backed by a $1 million insurance policy covering owners and renters. FlightCar launched at San Francisco International Airport and plans to expand to Boston next, with hopes of operating at two or three additional airports by the end of the year. Financially, the company has raised a $5.5M Series A and previously secured $590,000 in seed funding. FlightCar operates a marketplace that allows vehicle owners who have parked at the airport to rent their cars to other travelers. Every rental is insured up to $1M and every renter is pre-screened. The service is run by founders Rujul Zaparde, Kevin Petrovic and Shri Ganeshram. FlightCar is based in San Francisco, CA and is currently a member of the Y-Combinator W13 class graduating in March. The company also participated in the Cincinnati-based startup accelerator The Brandery.

Led · Equity · Jul 2015

Hotel Urbano operates a hotel search and booking platform that aggregates inventory and drives bookings for Brazilian hotels. The company leverages user behavior (30 million users) and push notifications/retargeting to generate demand and currently reports 65% year‑over‑year growth. It aims to boost occupancy for fragmented, seasonally affected hotels in Brazil, where off‑season occupancy outside major cities averages about 35%. Hotel Urbano says 45% of rooms booked are user‑driven and is building tech to increase conversion and occupancy within its local hotel network. The company previously raised $75 million from Tiger Global and Insight Venture Partners and was launched in 2011. Management plans to expand across Latin America and pursue a U.S. IPO within the next three years. Hotel Urbano operates an online travel platform and two concept stores, with its core revenue coming from hotel bookings (about 65%) and the remainder from package bookings. Founded in 2011, the company has grown from 5 employees to more than 500 and maintains a large online following (10 million Facebook fans). Revenues were expected to reach nearly R$1 billion (roughly $427.4 million) by the end of the year, up from R$90 million ($38.5 million) in 2011. The company is pushing to conduct direct negotiations with Brazil's predominantly individually owned hotels to expand inventory. It plans to expand sales and marketing internationally and views the upcoming World Cup and Olympics as catalysts for increasing tourist traffic. Hotel Urbano has positioned its product and operations to capture growth from Brazil's expanding middle class and surging travel demand. HotelUrbano is a Rio-based online travel agency that offers hotel bookings and vacation packages across 35,000 destinations in 83 countries to a Brazilian user base of over 15 million registered users and 7.8 million Facebook fans. The company closed 1.6 million travel bookings last year, generated over $120 million in revenue, and expected to double revenue in 2013. It reached breakeven in Q1, turned a profit in Q2, and projected full-year profitability for 2013. Hotel bookings account for more than 60% of revenue, while travel packages make up the remainder (about 80% of package sales are to international destinations; ~90% of hotel bookings are domestic). The business reports gross margins above 30% (32–34% on over 95% of top-line revenue) and offers customers interest-free payment in up to 10 installments (average 5.2 installments). HotelUrbano plans product launches in dynamic travel packages, mobile and social apps, a TripAdvisor-style reviews product, retail concept stores expansion, and geographic expansion into other Latin American markets.