Wego.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wego Pte Ltd.
TypePrivate
IndustryTravel
Headquarters
Singapore
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ross Veitch[1]
(CEO & Co-founder)
Craig Hewett
(Co-founder)
Mamoun Hmedan[2]
(GM MENA)
Dean Wicks[3]
ProductsFlights, Hotels, Holiday Deals
Websitewww.wego.com

Wego, formerly known as Bezurk,[4][5][6] is a Singaporean travel metasearch engine based in Singapore. It operates 76 country sites (CcTLD) in over 22 languages and local currencies.[7] Wego displays travel rate results in real time from over 700 travel sites, so users can shop and compare flight and hotel prices available online.

Wego displays a combination of local and international airfares and hotel search results from online travel agencies (OTA), airlines and hotels on desktop or travel app for iOS and Android. Once a user has selected their preference, they are redirected to the travel supplier to complete their booking.

History[]

Bezurk (now Wego) was founded in Singapore in 2005 by Ross Veitch[8] and Craig Hewett.

In January 2008, Wego received Series A funding of US$4.5 million from News Digital Media, the Australian digital arm of News Limited.

In May 2008, Bezurk was rebranded to Wego citing that the name was "hard to remember and spell".[9]

In December 2010, the company secured US$13million in Series B funding from Tiger Global Management.

In 2013, Wego launched its Bangalore,[10] Jakarta, and Dubai[11] regional offices.

In June 2013, Wego closed its Series C[12] funding round of US$17 million from Tiger Global Management, Crescent Point Group and SquarePeg Capital.

In October 2015 Wego closed series D US$11 million from existing investors Tiger Global Management and Crescent Point Group.

In August 2017, the company closed a Series E round of US$12 million from Middle East Broadcasting Center.[13]

In 2018, six years into its initial penetration into the Middle Eastern market, Wego has since seen its revenue soared to US$1 billion worth of gross travel bookings across its entire business.[14]

In 2019, Wego was named by the World Economic Forum and the Bahrain Economic Development Board as one of the 100 most promising Arab start-ups shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution.[15]

Market activity[]

Wego's core markets are in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and India. Wego travel app currently ranks within the top five of the most popular app in the iOS and Playstore travel category for Middle Eastern region.[14] Wego partners up with various smartphone manufacturers (Samsung being a prime example) to have their app come preinstalled.[16]

Each month Wego sends flight and hotel booking referrals worth US$1.5B to its travel partners. In addition to partnerships with hotels, airlines and OTAs, Wego continuously collaborates with tourism boards of various countries, such as Singapore,[17] South Korea,[18] Jordan,[19] Macao[20] and many others, to increase travel demands to and from said countries.[21]

In June 2014, the company launched Wego's Private Marketplace[22] providing advertisers access to Wego's travel audiences via programmatic buying. The trading desk operates with DSP partners from the US and UK, including Xaxis, Amnet and RadiumOne, and others in the Asia Pacific, Macau and the Middle East.

References[]

  1. ^ "WIT (WEB IN TRAVEL) TO LAUNCH AFRICAN EDITION IN 2020". Northstar Travel Group. October 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "(Press Release) Wego launches new TVC, appoints Mamoun Hmedan as General Manager-MENA".
  3. ^ "(Press Release) More LCCs compete for air supremacy, Dean Wicks Chief Flights Officer".
  4. ^ "Plane and Simple". The Wall Street Journal. 26 October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. ^ "News Digital takes stake in Bezurk.com". Herald Sun. 15 January 2008.
  6. ^ "Bezurk". CNN. July 2007.
  7. ^ "Wego appoints Ross Veitch as CEO, plans 34 new country sites". eyefortravel. 24 February 2012.
  8. ^ "Interview with Ross Veitch, co-founder of wego.com". Tech in Asia. 10 September 2009.
  9. ^ "Bezurk.com changes name to wego.com". EyeforTravel. 9 May 2008.
  10. ^ 2013, Bengaluru, February 18. "Wego grows India presence with new office - TTG Asia - Leader in Hotel, Airlines, Tourism and Travel Trade News". ttgasia.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Travel site Wego launches Dubai operations". ArabianIndustry.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  12. ^ Lukman, Enricko (24 June 2013). "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". Tech in Asia.
  13. ^ https://www.webintravel.com
  14. ^ a b Siew Hoon, Yeoh (March 25, 2019). "Wego Soars to Profitability and 1b Gross Bookings on Back of Middle East Success". Web in Travel.
  15. ^ Meet the 100 Arab start-ups shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution
  16. ^ 247, UAENEWS (April 2, 2019). "Wego Partners With Samsung to Preinstall its Application on Samsung Smartphones". UAE News 247. Archived from the original on 26 Feb 2020. Retrieved 8 Sep 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Singapore Tourism Board Partners with Wego in Middle East". Breaking Travel News. September 16, 2019.
  18. ^ "South Korea Signs With Wego for Middle East Tourism Push". Travelmaker. November 24, 2019.
  19. ^ "Jordan Tourism Board Partners With Wego". UAE NEWS 247. August 26, 2019.
  20. ^ "Macao Tourism Office Partners". Yahoo Finance. November 12, 2019.
  21. ^ "Singapore Tourism Board Partners With Wego in Middle East". Breaking Travel News. September 16, 2019.
  22. ^ Loechner, Tyler (June 25, 2014). "Wego Launches Private Marketplace For Travel Advertisers". Media Post.
Retrieved from ""