Tumodo, a Dubai-based business travel platform, announced on Thursday the successful closure of a $35 million pre-seed funding round, co-led by angel investors with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
In a statement, Tumodo said that the fresh capital injection will be instrumental in expanding its footprint in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market, advancing product development, and exploring new partnership opportunities within the MENA market.
Additionally, the company has set an ambitious target to extend its platform to 25 additional countries worldwide by the year 2026.
Citing data from the Global Business Travel Association, Tumodo highlighted that the global business travel market achieved a valuation of $933 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, reaching $1.4 trillion by 2024.
The company emphasized the MENA region’s rapid recovery in the business travel market, revealing that by 2022, it had already reached 86 percent of its 2019 levels.
“Tumodo represents the future of business travel. Our goal is to not only contribute to making the MENA business travel market one of the fastest-recovering globally but also to position it as the most technologically advanced,” stated Stan Klyuy, Chief Commercial Officer of Tumodo.
Established in 2023, Tumodo functions as an online business travel platform (B2B travel platform), leveraging data science, modern design, and service-oriented solutions for business travel.
The platform aims to streamline the process of booking business trips, resulting in an average savings of 35 percent on travel expenses for businesses.
Currently serving over 100 businesses in the MENA region, Tumodo has established connections with major distribution channels, global hotel chains, and collaborates with more than 400 airlines worldwide.
The platform offers customers access to over 2 million accommodation options and integrates with primary travel services globally.
With its emphasis on cutting-edge technology and a customer-centric approach, Tumodo aspires to become the leading business travel platform in the MENA region, aiming for a 100 percent adoption rate.
The company’s help center specialists are available to assist in trip organization and option selection.
Cited the World Travel & Tourism Council, Tumodo noted that even during the pandemic years, spending on business travel surpassed that on leisure travel.
The company highlighted the growth of the business travel market, outpacing leisure travel growth by 1 percent to 10 percent in 2021-2022, with the Middle East market experiencing a significant 15 percent difference.
Tumodo emphasized its readiness to modernize and streamline the travel organization process to contribute to the market’s growth.
By leveraging innovative technology, it said the platform enables businesses to efficiently book flights and hotels for hundreds of employees within just two minutes.
Notably, Tumodo differentiates itself by ensuring transparency with no hidden fees, facilitating expense management for businesses.
Furthermore, the company revealed ongoing development of an artificial intelligence (AI) feature designed to simplify the trip organization process.
Tumodo also envisions integrating its technology into companies’ human resource (HR) systems to enhance internal process management.