Hurb

Hurb (formerly Hotel Urbano) is the largest online travel agency based in Brazil.[1] Founded in January, 2011 by brothers José Eduardo and João Ricardo Mendes, Hurb was valued at 2 billion reais or approximately US$500 million when Booking Holdings purchased a small percentage for US$60 million in 2015, although this investment was totally written off and sold at an undisclosed price in 2016.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Its headquarters are in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Hurb
Founded2011 (2011) in Rio de Janeiro Brazil
HeadquartersRio de Janeiro, Brazil
OwnerKevin Efrusy, Priceline.com, Insight Venture Partners and Tiger Global
Key peopleJosé Eduardo Mendes e João Ricardo Mendes
IndustryTourism
ServicesTravel agency
URLwww.hurb.com

History

The company was initially founded as a collective buying website in 2011.[3] It was operated under this business model for only 5 months. Also in 2011, the two brothers repositioned the company in the market, and it then began operating as an online travel agency with focus on short-term off-season packages. In this new model, lodging rates are reduced in up to 40% compared to high-season rates.[2][3][5]

In a few rounds of investment, American fund companies Insight Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management invested in the company. They are known to have invested in companies such as Facebook, Netflix and LinkedIn.[2][3][8]

The company began marketing hotel accommodations and international travel packages. In 2013, it offered hotels and travel packages to 35,000 destinations in over 180 countries.[8]

The company's Facebook page is the most popular tourism page in the world (with 12 million fans) and is the 4th most popular page in Brazil.[8][9][10][11][12]

2014 to Present

By the end of 2014, the company had formed a partnership with Rock in Rio and became the only Brazilian company to market travel packages to the two festival editions in 2015.[13][14]

In the beginning of 2015, the company formed a partnership with RentalCars.com that allowed it to market car reservation and rental services in over 26 thousand destinations in 180 countries.[9][15]

Thinking of the medium-term IPO, the company implemented an Administrative Council in 2015, made up of independent members. These members are: Derek Zissman, former director of the KPMG group in the UK; Stelleo Tolda, executive vice-president and operations director at Mercado Livre; Leonardo Rocha, a business executive who has worked at Telefônica, Ponto Frio and Camargo Corrêa. The Council also includes the participation of João Ricardo Mendes and José Eduardo Mendes, founders of the company, and Brad Twohig, managing partner, and Elodie Dupuy, vice-president of Insight Venture Partners, an investment fund company that has led three rounds of investments in the company.[16][17]

Also in 2015, Booking Holdings invested US$60 million the company and gained a minority stake in the business.[18] This partnership aimed to expand the company's operations, especially in Latin America, through the global network of more than 780 thousand lodging partners who benefit from Priceline.com.[19][20][21][22]

However, in May 2016, Priceline declared that due to disappointing 2015 results, reduced forecasts, and the need for additional funding, it would write down 85% of its investment in HotelUrbano.[23] In August 2016, the group announced having written down in full its investment.

Voltem.com

In 2014, the company launched a website for vacation room rentals in Brazil called Voltem.com.[3]

In 2015, the company made an investment contribution of R$5 million to improve the Voltem.com platform.[24][25] As of November 2017, the site does not exist anymore.

Awards
  • 2014: Prêmio Empreendedor do Ano EY – (EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award) to João Ricardo Mendes.[26]
  • 2014: The only travel agency among the most respected companies in Brazil.[27]
  • 2014: Prêmio Exame: best customer service in the tourism segment in Brazil.[28]
  • 2014: Prêmio Época Reclame Aqui. Best companies for consumers, in the category "tourism and leisure".[29]
  • 2014: Prêmio Skifties: Best tourism startup in social networks in the world.[30]
  • 2014: Prêmio IstoÉ: Most conscious company, in the category "Employee Relations"[31]
  • 2014: Prêmio 100+ Inovadoras: 100 most innovative companies in the use of IT, in the category "Various Services".[32]
  • 2014: Prêmio GPTW: The Best Companies to Work for – Retail.[33]
  • 2015: Prêmio Consumidor Moderno: Customer Service Excellence in the tourism category.[34]
  • 2015: Prêmio Exame IBRC: Best company in customer service in the tourism and e-commerce sector.[35]

References
  1. "Hotel Urbano prevê faturar R$ 100 milhões com novo app" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  2. "O Hotel Urbano é a Netshoes do turismo" (in Portuguese). Exame. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  3. "Do zero ao bilhão" (in Portuguese). Exame PME. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  4. Revista Exame, Ed. Abril, "Já vale 2 bilhões de reais", September 2, 2015, pp. 30. (in Portuguese)
  5. Revista Forbes, Ed. Forbes, "Prodigiosos", February 1, 2014, pp. 52. (in Portuguese)
  6. "HotelUrbano.com". CrunchBase. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  7. "Rio bets it can become Brazil's Silicon Beach". Reuters. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  8. "Brazilian Vacation Bookings Goliath HotelUrbano Gets $20M Third Round Led By IVP". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  9. "Hotel Urbano firma parceria com RentalCars.com e Priceline para oferecer aluguel de carros em todo o mundo" (in Portuguese). Segs. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  10. "Hotel Urbano promove concurso do maior grito de "FÉÉÉÉRIIIIAAAS" no Facebook" (in Portuguese). Portal da Propaganda. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  11. "A ASCENSÃO DO HOTEL URBANO NO MERCADO DE TURISMO ONLINE" (in Portuguese). Época Negócios. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  12. "As marcas brasileiras com mais fãs no Facebook em novembro" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  13. "Hotel Urbano planeja crescer 58% em 2015" (in Portuguese). Brasil Economico. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  14. "Hotel Urbano será agência de viagens oficial do Rock in Rio" (in Portuguese). UOL. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  15. "Priceline's Rentalcars.com Could Be the Next Big Thing". Skift. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  16. "Hotel Urbano cria Conselho de Administração para abrir capital" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  17. "Hotel Urbano cria Conselho com vistas à abertura de capital" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  18. "Hotel Urbano recebe aporte de R$ 120 milhões para expandir operação" (in Portuguese). Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  19. "Grupo Priceline investe US$ 60 mi no Hotel Urbano" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  20. "Priceline partners with Hotel Urbano, invests $60M". Vator News. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  21. "Priceline Pours $60 Million Into Brazil's Hotel Urbano". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  22. "Hotel Urbano e Priceline anunciam parceria estratégica" (in Portuguese). E-commerce News. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  23. "Priceline Writes Down Nearly All of Its $60 Million Hotel Urbano Investment".
  24. "O Airbnb do Hotel Urbano" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  25. "Hotel Urbano investe 5 milhões de reais em site de aluguel por temporada" (in Portuguese). Info. Archived from the original on October 14, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  26. "Prêmio Empreendedor do Ano" (in Portuguese). EY. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  27. "Veja as 150 empresas mais respeitadas do país por setor" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  28. "O ranking do atendimento ao cliente em 2014" (in Portuguese). Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  29. "As empresas vencedoras do Prêmio ÉPOCA ReclameAqui" (in Portuguese). Epoca. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  30. "The Winners of Inaugural Skifties Social Media Travel Awards, the Full List". Skift. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  31. "IstoÉ premia as empresas mais conscientes do Brasil" (in Portuguese). Isto É. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  32. "100+ inovadoras em TI 2014" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  33. "Melhores Empresas para Trabalhar GPTW - Varejo" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  34. "VENCEDORES" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  35. "Uber, Netflix e Apple são exemplos de bom atendimento" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
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