Via.com

Via.com formerly known as FlightRaja.com is a travel portal and online travel company based in Bangalore, India. Via.com networks with more than 100,000 partners across 10,000 towns and cities globally.[1] Via was founded on July 25, 2006 and was incorporated in May 2007.

Via.com
TypePrivate
IndustryTravel
Founded2006
Headquarters
Bangalore
,
India
ProductsBooking flights, hotels, holidays, buses, trains and cars
Servicestravel booking
Revenue$1B USD[1]
Number of employees
1000

In November 2017, Via.com was acquired by Ebix Inc. for $74.9 million.[2]

Background

Via started in a small garage in Jayanagar, Bangalore in the early 2006. The Founders, Vinay Gupta, Amit Aggarwal, Harsh Azad and Rohit Gaddi came up with the idea, that its very hard for the entire company to come to a few websites and it will be a great idea, to make world class products and services, available to the common Indian, through neighbourhood stores. In a way to imagine, they dreamt of a company which would have the scale of Walmart but a distribution of FMCG. So the availability of standardised services to everyone, irrespective of where they bought it to. The model became a huge blue ocean and it spread like wild fire. More people wanted to join the distribution success of Via as, new entrepreneurs came into the system and made money.

The company spread to few hundred cities very quickly and became the market leader for several airlines in a very short span. Then they looked to see similar macros globally and ventured into Philippines, Indonesia and now Via operates globally.[3][4]

Financing

In 2007, Via received a funding of 5 million dollars from NEA IndoUS Ventures. This funding assisted Via in expanding themselves beyond airline services.[5]

In 2010, Sequoia Capital had closed a $10 USD million infusion of funds into Via’s holding company FlightRaja Travels.[6]

References
  1. "VIA partners with TravelDaily to present the 2009 China Travel Distribution Summit - 环球旅讯(TravelDaily)". Traveldaily.cn. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  2. "Ebix Inc to buy Via.com for about $74.9 million". Reuters. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. Mullins, John (3 July 2014). The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers' Cash. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118879139. Retrieved 9 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. The New Age Entrepreneurs. Random House India. 17 May 2012. ISBN 9788184001204. Retrieved 9 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. "FlightRaja Secures $5 Million Investment from NEA IndoUS Ventures". Indiaprwire.com. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  6. J, Preethi (27 January 2010). "Via (FlightRaja) To Receive $10M From Sequoia Capital". Medianama.com. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
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