Wie CFO Nils Chrestin mit GetYourGuide wachsen will

I got to know the founders Johannes and Tao in mid-2018, and it started as a creative, innocent conversation. We talked about various topics, but very quickly came to the point that GetYourGuide was looking for a new CFO, so we got into talks. I haven't lived in Germany since 2006 and wanted to return in the medium term, so that came together. After my research, I identified GetYourGuide as one of the top 3 growth companies in Europe and found the environment very exciting, so we came together.

Unfortunately, I can't change that much, so we will continue to be very modest with the numbers we disclose. What I can say is that we have now sold over 30 million tickets and experiences to travelers globally. That is, of course, tremendous growth we've achieved since the company was founded in 2009, and we believe growth will continue in that direction globally, across Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

The market we are working to conquer globally is a 200 billion market, of which only five percent is currently online. We will use a large part of the capital raised to continue hiring employees in Berlin and around the world to conquer this market. I believe you will see hardly any changes in the strategy we have pursued so far; it is working very well. With this capital, we will intensify our focus on growth in Europe, North America, and Asia. A large portion of the investments will go into acquiring new customers, building up the workforce, and product innovations.

With SoftBank and Temasek, we have succeeded in winning over two world-class investors for GetYourGuide, investors who share our long-term vision of conquering this 200 billion market and increasing the online share in this market. In Europe, and especially in Germany, there are relatively few capital providers that can finance rounds of this size compared to America or Asia, which is a shame because the returns generated from such investments then do not stay in Germany.

No, both SoftBank and Temasek are globally active firms that have already seen many other growth companies. The conversation is at eye level, and as I said, we found someone who shares our long-term vision. We get a lot of input on the Asian market and the American market from these investors, input that we might not have on our radar from Germany alone.

I believe that with marketplaces—and there are many examples—it is not necessarily always the rule that the biggest dominates the market. As I said, it's a 200 billion market with few players at the moment. There are new ones trying to enter. I think at the end of the day, the market is large enough for many different companies to build a valid business. In terms of M&A, we are in a position where we have the luxury to look at such topics a bit more closely. At the moment, we are probably pursuing a more reactive approach, but we do have ideas we are considering, both vertically in terms of going deeper into the value chain and regionally in terms of operations that could allow us to grow further.

We don't feel pressure from these players; we welcome it because, as I said, currently only five percent of the market is online. If you compare it to flights and hotels, the vast majority of travelers book those online. In the tour and activity space, it's still very small. So we are essentially grateful to anyone who helps increase that five percent over the years.

You're right, that's certainly what we want. And we believe that with our focus on unforgettable travel experiences, we are very well positioned to capture the majority of this market development. As a young company, we have the luxury of concentrating only on these topics; we talk about nothing else at the company every day other than how we can improve the traveler experience. I believe with this focus and with our investors and capital behind us, we are very well positioned.

Through this round, we have put ourselves in a situation where we don't have to think about it. It is a topic we still discuss, but it is not something imminent in the short term. We are in a very good position with a lot of capital raised to finance our growth strategy. I think it will become more relevant in a few years, but for now, the focus is on the business.

We are on a very good path to reach that point in our core markets where we started. But it is not currently the focus of the business. We know we can set up a profitable business model; that is clearly shown in our unit economics. We are very strongly focused on growth and will continue to invest.

The Vatican tour.