<p>Berlin-based travel-booking app Omio said on Wednesday it had raised $100 million in backing to expand its business and make acquisitions as the industry recovers from the blow dealt by the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>.<p>At the height of the viral outbreak, Omio went into "keep-the-lights-on" mode and put 90 percent of its staff on furlough, founder and CEO Naren Shaam told Reuters, but its team of 350 is now working again at full strength.</p>.<p>The company, which offers travel search and bookings for flights, trains, buses and other forms of transport, said it was seeing a shift away from air towards ground travel.</p>.<p>That shift supports margins, but purchases and distances travelled are smaller, said Shaam. More people are also booking at the last minute, putting a premium on the flexibility offered by its smartphone app, he added.</p>.<p>Bookings through the platform are back above half pre-pandemic levels in Omio's core markets of Germany and France although it is still beaten down in the United States, which it entered at the start of this year.</p>.<p>"Business is coming back much stronger than we expected," the Indian-born, Harvard-educated entrepreneur said in an interview.</p>.<p>Existing and new investors took part in the round, including Singaporean wealth fund Temasek, Sweden's Kinnevik, Goldman Sachs, NEA - a backer of US share trading app Robinhood - and Kleiner Perkins.</p>.<p>The round took the form of convertible notes that investors will be able to switch, at a discount, into shares in Omio when it holds its next equity fundraising.</p>.<p>Shaam said it would be at least a couple of years before he starts thinking about another equity round. Omio had previously attracted $296 million from investors.</p>.<p>Omio is reviewing "a lot of opportunities" for acquisitions, he added, having bought Australian route-discovery specialist Rome2Rio last October.</p>
<p>Berlin-based travel-booking app Omio said on Wednesday it had raised $100 million in backing to expand its business and make acquisitions as the industry recovers from the blow dealt by the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>.<p>At the height of the viral outbreak, Omio went into "keep-the-lights-on" mode and put 90 percent of its staff on furlough, founder and CEO Naren Shaam told Reuters, but its team of 350 is now working again at full strength.</p>.<p>The company, which offers travel search and bookings for flights, trains, buses and other forms of transport, said it was seeing a shift away from air towards ground travel.</p>.<p>That shift supports margins, but purchases and distances travelled are smaller, said Shaam. More people are also booking at the last minute, putting a premium on the flexibility offered by its smartphone app, he added.</p>.<p>Bookings through the platform are back above half pre-pandemic levels in Omio's core markets of Germany and France although it is still beaten down in the United States, which it entered at the start of this year.</p>.<p>"Business is coming back much stronger than we expected," the Indian-born, Harvard-educated entrepreneur said in an interview.</p>.<p>Existing and new investors took part in the round, including Singaporean wealth fund Temasek, Sweden's Kinnevik, Goldman Sachs, NEA - a backer of US share trading app Robinhood - and Kleiner Perkins.</p>.<p>The round took the form of convertible notes that investors will be able to switch, at a discount, into shares in Omio when it holds its next equity fundraising.</p>.<p>Shaam said it would be at least a couple of years before he starts thinking about another equity round. Omio had previously attracted $296 million from investors.</p>.<p>Omio is reviewing "a lot of opportunities" for acquisitions, he added, having bought Australian route-discovery specialist Rome2Rio last October.</p>