Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com (previously known as skypicker.com) is a Czech online travel tech company founded by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi in 2012. Kiwi.com provides a fare aggregator, metasearch engine and booking for airline tickets and ground transportation. Its ticket search features Kiwi.com’s "virtual interlining" concept – itineraries combined from over 750 carriers, including many that do not usually cooperate in online bookings.[2] The booking service also features a service known as Kiwi.com Guarantee, which claims to protect customers from missed connections caused by delay, schedule change, or cancellation.[3] In November 2019, the company announced its vision to become the world’s first Virtual Global Supercarrier (VGS).[4]

Kiwi.com
FormerlySkyPicker.com
IndustryOnline travel agency
Founded2012
FounderOliver Dlouhý
HeadquartersBrno, Czech Republic
Revenue27,683,415,000 Czech koruna (2018) 
169,124,000 Czech koruna (2018) 
111,151,000 Czech koruna (2018) 
Total assets1,215,047,000 Czech koruna (2018) 
OwnerGeneral Atlantic (53.5 %)[1]
Oliver Dlouhý (22.4 %)[1]
Number of employees
879 (2018) 
Websitewww.kiwi.com/en/

Background

The online portal skypicker.com was created in 2011. The company was founded in Brno by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi. In 2016 the company acquired the domain name Kiwi.com for $800,000 and rebranded itself as Kiwi.com. Jiří Hlavenka was one of its first investors.[5] In 2017, Kiwi.com acquired a stake in Jaroslav Kokolus.[6]

As of June 2019, Kiwi.com’s main shareholder is General Atlantic.[7] Dlouhý and Képesi remain as major shareholders and continue to run the company.[8] Other shareholders are Touzimsky Airlines and Luboš Charčenko.[9]

Services

In 2018 Kiwi.com launched NOMAD, a special multi-city travel search tool, and Tequila, a dedicated B2B platform.[10]

Along with its headquarters in Brno, Kiwi.com has offices in Barcelona, Bratislava and Prague. The company has outsourced partners in Belgrade (Serbia), Bratislava (Slovakia), Dalian (China), Kyiv (Ukraine), Manila (the Philippines), Split and Zagreb (Croatia), Pune, Nashik and Indore (India), Tunisia, Miami (USA), Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing, Foshan (China), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Bogotá (Colombia).[11]

The company is presently one of the five biggest online air ticket sellers in Europe, with an annual turnover of approximately 1.1 billion euros in 2018.[12]

In 2020 The Observer identified Kiwi.com as one of the companies responsible for the year's "worst customer service" after it began charging customers an additional fee for "standard" customer service, with customers who do not pay the fee having to wait longer for phone support and having no access to email support.[13]

References
  1. Company register at or.justice.cz, company ID 29352886, Kiwi.com s.r.o., Netherlands-registered General Atlantic PH11 B.V. owns 53.5 %, accessed 2019-10-10
  2. "Kiwi.com in talks to raise funds for next leg of travel". Reuters. 23 May 2017.
  3. "Kiwi.com | Guarantee". Kiwi.com (in Czech). Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  4. "How Kiwi.com is becoming the first virtual global supercarrier | PhocusWire". www.phocuswire.com. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  5. "Inside Interview: Behind the $800,000 Purchase of Kiwi.com". NamePros.
  6. Beránek, Jan. "HN: Brněnské Kiwi.com brzy přivítá nového investora". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  7. Fox, Linda. "Kiwi.com takes big investment as General Atlantic becomes majority owner". PhocusWire. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  8. "Hotovo. Kiwi.com patří americkému fondu, Dlouhý zůstává". Forbes. 3 June 2019.
  9. "Veřejný rejstřík a Sbírka listin - Ministerstvo spravedlnosti České republiky". or.justice.cz. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  10. "Kiwi.com launches fully integrated booking tool for Tequila users". partners.kiwi.com. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  11. "Czech online travel agency Kiwi.com readies expansion push". Reuters. 21 April 2017.
  12. "Hádky kvůli prodeji Kiwi skončily, dospěl jsem, říká zakladatel Dlouhý a zahájil expanzi do Číny". Hospodářské Noviny.
  13. Tims, Anna (27 December 2020). "In the year of Covid, the awards for worst customer service go to..." The Observer. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
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