WeTravel Newsroom
Multi-product software built to manage global bookings and payments for the multi-day travel industry
WeTravel By The Data
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Privately held: Series B Funding $27 million USD in 2023; total funding $34 million USD
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200 global team members
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Team members work from five continents, excluding Australia and Antarctica
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Headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and California, The United States
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Product and DevOps office in Baku, Azerbaijan
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50 percent of team members identify as women
WeTravel is the booking & payments platform for multi-day and group travel businesses. Over 5,000 companies trust WeTravel to accept payments instantly, manage bookings efficiently, and transfer funds globally.
The [We] In WeTravel:
WeTravel began in 2016, with three Co-Founders—Johannes Koeppel (CPO), Garib Mehdiyvev (CTO) and Zaky Prabowo (CMO)—who had a similar passion for a local style of immersive travel, hailing from Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Indonesia respectively, and a fascination with technology.
The initial idea for the platform sparked from Koeppel’s time working for The Red Cross—with small communities and local travel businesses around the world—he experienced how disjointed the booking and payment process was for multi-day travel businesses; the payment system was archaic, causing missed and delayed payments (often sent by cheque) to vendors and confusing itineraries for customers. He believed technology could better the system and help local businesses and communities increase revenue and drive traffic to their trips.
In 2014, WeTravel's MVP was launched for student group travel organizers. In its prototype, the platform processed more than $600k USD in transactions. Noting the platform's demand within the student travel segment of the multi-day travel industry, the business expanded its offerings in the wellness segment.
Finding similar success, WeTravel expanded into all segments within the multi-day travel industry, evolving its product to be built as a vertical software for the multi-day travel industry.
WeTravel By The Product
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All-in-one software and payment processor for multi-day travel businesses
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1,000+ tour operators, 5,000+ group organizers, more than 500,000 travelers globally
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Hundreds of millions USD in annual transactions
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Payment solutions: Automated payment processing and billing; supplier transfer networks; instant payout options; local and alternative payment methods
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Marketing features: Trip builder; Google Analytics integration; Zapier or WeTravel API integration; automated email marketing; custom branding; lead generation tools including Pre-Registration, Download Brochure and Waitlist and more
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Administration solutions: Payment analytics and tracking dashboards; waitlist functions; team chat functions; booking management and inventory management tools
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Free subscription for non-profit businesses and student group travel
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WeTravel Basic, Pro and Enterprise subscription models fit for all business types
Why WeTravel?
WeTravel makes the booking process--from itinerary building to trip management--accessible and easy for all travel businesses. Its evolving solutions include travel-specific business management solutions, global, accessible payment options and lead generation and booking conversion tools.
Although used by all business sizes, WeTravel began and continues with a heart for helping increase revenue for local business owners—so that money can be funneled back into communities, businesses and people, becoming a solution that has economic and social impact.
WeTravel's Executive Team
Ted Clements
He/Him - Chief Executive Officer
Johannes Koeppel
He/Him - Co-founder and Chief Product Officer
Garib Mehdiyev
He/Him - Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
Zaky Prabowo
He/Him - Co-founder and COO
He/Him - Chief Executive Officer
Ted Clements
As WeTravel’s CEO, Ted Clements brings a customer-centric approach to fintech and B2B SaaS, with a focus on the absolving operational pain-points in the travel industry. He brings decades' worth of experience selling technology services to travel businesses to help them generate revenue -- and operate successfully. He joined WeTravel in January 2023, assuming the role of CEO. In his current role, he manages the key functions that make WeTravel successful, including: Product, Technology, Operations, Marketing and Sales. He's based in Amsterdam with his family, originally hailing from The United States.
He/Him - Co-founder and Chief Product Officer
Johannes Koeppel
During Johannes' time working for Doctors Without Borders and The Red Cross, he occasionally organized tours for Europeans and met with many tour organizers, who all agreed on a common pain-point: Booking trips and collecting payments was muddied and challenging. From there, the idea sparked for WeTravel. Packing his idea (and his luggage), Johannes received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue U.C. Berkeley’s MBA. Heading to every competition and pitch event known to him, Johannes and fellow Berkeley classmate, Garib, launched WeTravel’s first prototype. In January 2023, he moved from the business's CEO to CPO, managing the strategic direction of the platform's development.
He/Him - Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
Garib Mehdiyev
With an impressive fintech background, Garib’s passion for finance and technology has strung together his life’s experiences. Before founding WeTravel in 2016, Garib held roles as CTO of UniBank, Azerbaijan’s largest bank, Engineer at Fuze, and the Co-Founder of TFI Fellowships and MPS, which he officially exited. After being introduced at a startup pitch night at UC Berkeley, Garib and Johannes found common ground in creating a technology platform to address the unmet needs of multi-day travel businesses. From there, Johannes and Garib set-out to create the WeTravel platform, enlisting the help of fellow classmate, Zaky, to launch and market the business. Now, Garib leads WeTravel’s engineering team, relying on his software and DevOps engineering background to steer the company’s technical direction.
He/Him - Co-founder and COO
Zaky Prabowo
Zaky, born in Indonesia, spent time after university as an aide to Indonesia’s President, where he, too, saw the technical issues in booking and paying for international travel. He co-founded Indorelawan, the largest marketplace for volunteers and NGOs in Indonesia, and worked in Customer Acquisition at EatWith and McKinsey before heading to America for an MBA from U.C. Berkeley. As the final founder to join WeTravel, Zaky’s marketing experience made him the perfect fit for commercializing WeTravel’s business, launching it from its prototype for student group organizers into the multi-day travel industry. He now manages the company's operations, including payment operations, customer support and public relations.
WeTravel In The News
WeTravel Press Contact
For all press inquiries, email press@wetravel.com