SoftBank invests $ 1.7 billion in South Korean travel platform Yanolja

South Korea Yanolja Received a $ 1.7 billion capital injection from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to scale its cloud-based travel and leisure platform.

Founded in 2005, Yanolja’s “super app” travel service includes accommodation, recreation, transportation and dining. The platform uses technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, big data and blockchain to accelerate digital transformation in the travel industry and claims to be one of the unicorns of the growing travel industry. the fastest in the world.

Despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Yanolja said, the company achieved both net growth and operating profit gains last year.

With SoftBank’s investment, Yanolja, which is South Korea’s number one travel super app, will invest in developing innovative technologies to expand its technology offerings into new markets.

“Powered by AI, we believe Yanolja is a leader in transforming the travel and leisure industry in South Korea through its super travel app approach,” said Greg Moon, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.

“We are delighted to partner with Lee Su Jin and the Yanolja team in their quest to expand into new markets and further drive innovation in the travel and leisure industry.

Yanolja first claimed her unicorn status in 2019 following a $ 180 million investment deal with Booking Holdings and GIC.

At the time, it had secured total funding of $ 242 million and the deal marked Booking Holdings’ first in South Korea.

Yanolja previously invested in Southeast Asian budget hotel company ZEN Rooms in 2018 and 2019.