Peek raises $10 million for its activity booking service, reveals Yelp partnership

Peek today revealed that it has raised $10 million in new funding from a group of investors interested in helping the activity booking service accelerate its growth. The latest infusion of cash came from Trulia founder and CEO Pete Flint, and included participation from TPG founder David Bonderman, former Oracle president Ray Lane, and Hyatt Hotels owners Gigi Pritzker and Michael Pucker.

In addition to its fundraising, the company has struck a partnership with Yelp. This means that Peek will power the activity bookings made on Yelp’s site and mobile apps from companies that it has relationships with.

Launched in 2012, Peek wants to help you figure out what to do when you’re traveling. It collects the best experiences in a location, organizes them so you can easily sort through your options, and makes it easy to book them all in one place. The business has grown 400 percent in the last six months, according to its CEO, Ruzwana Bashir, and says “hundreds of millions of dollars of bookings” are made through its platform.

With $10 million in the bank, the company will continue to scale its business. This includes paying for a growing team, which has increased 60 percent; building a new office in Utah; working with additional tour operators; and expanding into new international markets. Bashir stated that Peek is currently active in 35 large markets, as well as 600 smaller towns and regions in the U.S. and Mexico.

“I see lots of similarities with Peek and Trulia — as both companies empower small businesses and are laser-focused on providing the best possible experience for their customers — and there are compelling network effects,” said Flint. His involvement, along with that of other new investors, provides Peek with a strategic partnership. While Flint can help the company work with small businesses — such as travel operators and activity guides — Lane will educate Peek on how to work with large corporations and how to integrate the activity booking engine into more places.

The inclusion of Pritzker and Pucker may also open doors for Peek with hotels and others in the travel industry who are in search of new ways to improve a guest’s experience.

It’s also worth noting that Eric Schmidt, Jack Dorsey, and former Travelocity CEO Carl Sparks are returning as existing investors.

Above: Peek integration with Yelp.

Image Credit: Peek

The partnership with Yelp signals the next phase of Peek’s existence. When you see an activity listed on Yelp and make a booking, that process will be managed by Peek.  As Bashir explained, “160 million people go to Yelp every month and are looking for great things to do.” She added, “It’s a huge opportunity to partner with someone equally sophisticated in tech. Yelp is a great platform that lets us integrate great booking.”

Bashir declined to share financial terms of the partnership, but said that Peek will be looking at similar partnerships in the future — with hoteliers, airlines, and others who want the capability it offers but aren’t interested in “doing the work to find an activity operator, get real-time bookings, and create editorial content.”

Other partnerships Peek has in place include one with Hawaiian Airlines, which allows users to research and book activities while in the air en route to Hawaii. It uses an offline mode that saves them time so they can begin enjoying their vacation the moment they touch down. Peek also has a relationship with Virgin America.

To date, the company has raised $18 million in venture funding. It declined to state its valuation.