ibiboGroup, one of India’s largest online travel company that owns properties such as Goibibo.com, redBus.in, Yourbus and ibibo Ryde, has acquired a minority stake in cloud-based hotels solution provider, Djubo for an undisclosed amount. Ashish Kashyap, CEO of ibiboGroup will join Djubo’s Board as a board member. Both sides will leverage significant synergies through this equity partnership to ensure more online participation of long tail hotels.
Djubo was launched in February this year. The company was co-founded by Tarun Gulati, an IIM Bengaluru alumnus with over six years of experience in private equity and three years in the hospitality and hotel technology, and Sankalp Goel, an IMT Ghaziabad Alumnus with over six years of experience in IT consulting and software development.
Tarun Gulati, co-founder, Djubo said, “Our product is not just another hotel management software solution. It is a team of people dedicated to empower, educate and assist independent hotels to take on the challenge of competing with large hotel brands using technology. Our team commits a significant amount of time to understanding the problems faced by hotels and then suggests changes in their business processes and practices, thus helping them perform better in the market. We intend to change the perception of technology as a burden and the Djubo sales platform is a key tool in this endeavour.”
Commenting on the rationale for the investment, Ashish Kashyap, CEO, ibiboGroup said, “Ibibo’s aim is to participate in solving problems in the accommodation and transportation industry. In the accommodation space we are the largest hotels platform and similarly in the transportation space we are the number one bus ticketing ecosystem. Djubo is solving critical pain points of the hotel industry, delivering disproportionate value to the industry. We are impressed with the Djubo team and the execution that they have demonstrated in a short time span.”
Sankalp Goel, co-founder, Djubo said, “We are excited to have ibiboGroup on board as an investor. We intend to cross 2,000 hotels within the next 12 months and will therefore be ramping up our sales and marketing efforts. A substantial portion of the investment will be put into product development to bring even more innovative functionality to Djubo and develop it into a robust, end-to-end solution for hotel sales management covering micro-functions as well.”