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Global Blue

7 Route de Crassier, Eysins, 1262, Switzerland

Overview

Global Blue is a tourism shopping tax refund company. It is widely known for its tax-free shopping networks that help customers save up to 19% on all purchases made abroad at any of Global Blue’s 270,000 shopping partners. Global Blue also helps travelers find the their favorite local and international brands. It also operates in dynamic currency conversion, marketing services, point-of-sale technology, retail staff education, and customer intelligence. Alf Näslund founded Sweden Tax Free Shopping that pioneered the concept of tax-free shopping in 1980 and gave rise to Global Blue, with its headquarters in Nyon in Switzerland. Gloabl Blue now operates in 51 countries worldwide.

Total investments
2
Lead investments
0
Investments · 12mo
0
Active investors
8

Sector focus

  • Customer Service
  • Finance
  • Financial Services
  • Marketing
  • Shopping
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Investment portfolio

  • TravelersBox

    Participated · Series A · Jan 2016

    TravelersBox provides airport kiosks that let travelers convert leftover foreign bills and coins into usable digital currency by depositing funds into PayPal, purchasing gift cards (iTunes, Starbucks, Skype, Gap) or making charitable donations. The company operates more than 75 kiosks in Canada, Italy, Turkey, Georgia, Israel and the Philippines. Led by founder and CEO Tomer Zussman and based in Kadima, Israel, TravelersBox raised $10m in a Series A and has raised $15.5m to date. It intends to use the funds to grow globally—specifically targeting Japan, India and New Zealand—deploy an additional 300 kiosks this year and open an office in Asia. The company will invest in R&D and accelerate product development, including launching a new software application to enable consumers to convert change into digital currency when shopping at duty free and other airport-based retail outlets. TravelersBox also plans to hire in key areas such as sales, marketing, product and engineering to support expansion. TravelersBox operates physical kiosks that let travelers convert foreign coins and bills into dollars or euros and send the value to PayPal, Skype, or Starbucks accounts. The service also supports sending value to charity and charges no fee for the transfer. The company says it aims to provide a fee-free service by increasing affiliation with TravelersBox partners. TravelersBox raised $4.5 million to fund expansion into additional airports where more kiosks will be deployed. Founders Tomer Zussman, Idan Deshe, and Dror Blumenthal built the product after observing frequent travelers accumulate small amounts of foreign change. The team frames the opportunity as a large market driven by three billion travelers annually and a $40–50 billion addressable market.

Team

  • Jacques Stern

    CEO

    LinkedIn
  • Alf Naslund

    Founder

  • Jiri Macas

    Managing director Austria and Czech Republic

    LinkedIn
  • Agop Ashjian

    Head of RetailTech Portfolio management

    LinkedIn