Skyscanner (United Kingdom) - Nov 2007

unquote
01 November 2007

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Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has invested £2.5m in a series-A funding round to support Skyscanner, a flight search engine, taking a minority stake in the business. SEP first came into contact with the company on the 2006 Scottish Technology Tour, following which Skyscanner made a direct approach regarding an investment. The new capital will be used to implement additional infrastructure to support the rapid growth of the business, as well as to fund marketing to increase the customer base. SEP has said that there is the potential for a further round of funding, should it be needed, in summer 2008.

Company

Skyscanner, based in Edinburgh, has developed a proprietary search engine technology that enables consumers to perform price comparisons free of charge on flights, displaying the results in 20 different languages. Founded in 2003, the business has experienced rapid growth despite little marketing, currently handling around one million consumer price enquiries a day on flights from 180 airlines to more than 5,000 destinations, representing a 1.2% market share. The company employs more than 30 staff and is profitable.

People

Stuart Patterson led the transaction for SEP and will join the Skyscanner board.

Advisers

Company - McGrigor McDonald, Frazer Smith, Gary Anderson (Legal)Equity - Craig Corporate Management Glasgow, Bill Findlay (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - DAV Management, Charlie Mayes (Technical/IT Advice)Equity - Maclay Murray & Spens, David McGrory, Susan Gibb (Legal)

Sourced from: UK & Ireland unquote" 358 (Dec 2007)