Ostrovok.ru
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Type of site | online hotel booking service |
---|---|
Available in | Russian, English, German, Spanish |
Created by | Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky |
Commercial | Yes |
Launched | 2010 |
Ostrovok.ru is a Russian online hotel booking service, founded in 2010 by Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky. In total, the site has over 1 million accommodation options, the monthly audience of the service is estimated at more than 3.5 million people. The company's turnover in the first three quarters of 2018 amounted to $508.2 million. The partners of Ostrovok.ru are such companies as Megafon, HotelsCombined, TripAdvisor, Sheremetyevo Airport, Aviasales and Kayak. The office of the company is located in Moscow.
History
The company was founded in 2010 by Russian entrepreneurs Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky after attracting the first investment of $13.6 million from a number of foreign investors.[1] Online website Ostrovok.ru emerged on July 11, 2011, after that the first office of the company was opened in Moscow[2] and experts from Google, Yandex, Booking, British Airways and other companies were invited.[3][4] Later, the Extranet service was launched to manage the accommodation objects and the first direct contracts with hotels were signed.[5] In the first year of operation, the service was included in the list of the best startups according to Forbes.[6]
In 2012, Ostrovok.ru becomes a resident of the Skolkovo Innovation Center.[7] In April of the same year, Ostrovok.ru concluded a partnership agreement with the Australian hotel metasearch engine HotelsCombined, as a result of which the companies got access to the database of each other's offers.[8] Also this year, the first versions of applications for iOS and Android were launched.[9]
In the spring of 2013, the company attracted a new round of investments in the amount of $25 million. At the end of the year, Ostrovok was included in the list of the best startups according to the magazine The Firm's Secret, ranking fifth in the overall standings and first in the category “Leisure and entertainment”,[10] and also "The best Internet service" according to National Geographic Traveler.[11]
In 2014, a service for working with legal entities (B2B.ostrovok.ru) and a loyalty program were launched. In 2016, Ostrovok.ru ranked second in the rating of Russian websites of the hospitality industry according to SimilarWeb.[12]
In 2017, after Serge Faguet left Ostrovok.ru, Felix Shpilman took over as CEO.
In September 2018, on the basis of Ostrovok.ru technology, the sale of hotels was launched by Pobeda Airlines.[13]
Features of the service
The service is an online information technology platform for booking hotels and searching for flights. Searching for and booking hotels around the world is the main functionality of the site Ostrovok.ru. Depending on the model of the company's cooperation with each particular hotel, a user is offered one of the three ways to make a reservation: guarantee of booking with a plastic card, booking without a card, and booking and paying with a plastic card. If full prepayment is required, then the user is offered a form of payment for booking, implemented on the Ostrovok.ru website.[14][15]
According to the data for 2018, over 1 million accommodation options are available on the site, and all information about the hotels included in the database is provided by the hotels or their representatives. At the same time, the service also provides ratings and reviews that are left by site users and downloaded from TripAdvisor.[16]
In addition to the main function of the service, Ostrovok.ru enables to search for airline tickets and there is a separate service for interaction with legal entities (B2B.ostrovok.ru). Also mobile applications for iOS and Android are launched. API Ostrovok.ru is used by such companies as Megafon, HotelsCombined, TripAdvisor, Sheremetyevo Airport, Aviasales and Kayak.[13][17][18]
In addition, the site has a loyalty program called "Bank snov" (Bank of dreams). It is stylized as a fictional bank in which dreams are put into the account. For each night in the hotel, booked through the service, the client receives 2-4% of the cost of booking in the form of dreams. In this case, one dream is equal to one ruble, which can be spent on the next booking.[19][20]
ZenHotels
ZenHotels is an online hotel reservation service for solo travelers, launched in 2014 by Emerging Travel Group, which also owns Ostrovok. The service has multilingual round-the-clock customer support and offers more than one million options for accommodations in 220 countries around the world. The CEO of ZenHotels is Felix Shpilman.[21]
In 2018 ZenHotels ranked 8th among the best OTA in Germany.[22]
Owners and management
The Ostrovok.ru service is owned by Emerging Travel Group, whose founders are Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky.[23][24]
In 2014, Maharinsky left the company, but remained on the board of directors.[25] Later that year, one of the company's first investors joined the board of directors - Fritz Demopoulos, co-founder of the largest online booking service for hotels and air tickets Qunar in China.[26]
In 2017, Serge Faguet also left the company, Felix Shpilman replaced him as CEO, who had worked at Ostrovok.ru since 2013, first as vice president of the strategy, and then as a manager of the company's core operations.[27]
Investments
To launch the online service, Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky attracted $13.6 million of investments from a number of international investors, including: General Catalyst Partners, Accel Partners, Peter Thiel and Founders Fund, Niklas Zennström and Atomico Ventures, Mark Pincus, Esther Dyson, Fritz Demopoulos, Sebastien de Hallo, Naval Ravikant, Felix Shpielman, Scott Banister, James Hong and Sam Schank. As a result of the transaction, all investors received a non-controlling interest, more than 50% of the company remained with its founders.[1][28]
In March 2013, Ostrovok.ru attracted another $25 million, General Catalyst Partners Fund again became the main investor, and Frontier Ventures, Accel Partners and Yuri Milner again became
co-investors. According to the company, all funds were spent on improving the partnership network and increasing the number of call center employees, as well as developing existing and new products.[29]
In 2014, co-founders of the VKontakte social network, Vyacheslav Mirilashvili and Lev Leviev, invested $12 million in Ostrovok.ru.[30][31] And later in the same year, the General Catalyst and Accel Partners investment funds withdrew from the capital of Ostrovok.ru.[32]
According to Crunchbase, the total investment in Ostrovok exceeds $50 million.[33] According to Serge Faguet, he has invested $2 million of his personal funds in the company since its existence and he remains one of the largest shareholders in the business.[34]
Key indicators
Officially, Ostrovok does not disclose its figures, however, according to Kommersant, the company's revenue in 2012 was about $1 million, in 2013 – about $4 million.[35] In the summer of 2015, the turnover of the online service was $15 million per month, revenue and expenses - about $1 million per month, and the annual turnover increased to $200 million. In 2016, according to Makharinsky, Ostrovok.ru turnover was more than $350 million, and the company payed off the investments.[36]
In 2018, the turnover of the Emerging Travel Group in the first three quarters of 2018 amounted to $508.2 million, by the end of the year, according to Kommersant, the figure could increase to $750 million.[23]
According to SimilarWeb, the monthly service audience is estimated at more than 3.5 million people.[37]
References
- ^ a b "Ostrovok для инвесторов". Gazeta.ru. 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ "Офис недели: Островок.ru". The Village. 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "Ostrovok.ru запустит сервис поиска отелей в рунете через месяц". РИА Новости (in Russian). 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "How to build a great team for an online travel agency in an emerging market". Northstar Travel Group. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Островок.ru начал прямую работу с питерскими отелями". ProHotel. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- ^ "Офисный рай на Островок.ru". Rusbase. 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "Сервис бронирования отелей Ostrovok.ru стал резидентом Сколково". Cnews. 2012-04-27. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Ostrovok.ru выйдет в люди". Kommersant. 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
{{cite web}}
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at position 21 (help) - ^ "Российский туристический сервис Ostrovok.ru привлек $25 млн инвестиций". РИА Новости. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "Высокие старты". Kommersant. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "Награждены победители National Geographic Traveler Awards". National Geographic. 2013-11-07. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "ТОП-50 hospitality-сайтов России: Booking.com, Ostrovok.ru, Airbnb, Azimut, Radisson Blu, Accor... Отельные сайты - в меньшинстве". Hotelier.PRO. 2016-07-25. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b "АК «Победа» запустила продажу отелей на базе технологий Ostrovok.ru". Ведомости. 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "База знаний Ostrovok.ru: Как я могу оплатить бронирование?". Ostrovok.ru. Retrieved 2018-10-21.[dead link]
- ^ "База знаний Ostrovok.ru: Что такое «гарантия бронирования»?". Ostrovok.ru. Retrieved 2018-10-21.[dead link]
- ^ "Аудит удобства сайтов бронирования отелей: Booking, Ostrovok и Hotels". Cossa.ru. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Лучшие приложения для бронирования отелей по версии Роскачества". The Village. 2018-08-11. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Инвесторам приглянулся Ostrovok". Kommersant. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Как создать работающую программу лояльности". vc.ru. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Ostrovok.ru запускает программу лояльности и обменивает сны в отелях на покупки". National Geographic. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "ZenHotels.com on Crunchbase". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
- ^ "Die besten Portale für die Hotelsuche". Wirtschaftswoche. 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
- ^ a b "Ostrovok.ru забронировал путешествие". Kommersant. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
- ^ "Гик-парад. Сергей Фаге и Кирилл Махаринский". Sobaka.ru. 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Сооснователь Ostrovok.ru Кирилл Махаринский уходит из компании". vc.ru. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Сооснователи «ВКонтакте» вложили $12 млн в Ostrovok.ru". Sostav.ru. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Феликс Шпильман заменит Сергея Фаге на посту гендиректора «Островка»". vc.ru. 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- ^ "Travel Site Ostrovok Is Launching Next Week With $13 Million From Accel and General Catalyst". Business Insider. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
- ^ "Островок привлек еще $25 млн". vc.ru. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ "Бывшие акционеры «ВКонтакте» вложились в Ostrovok.ru". Forbes. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ "Ostrovok Raises New $12M Series C Round To Expand Outside Russia". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
- ^ "СМИ: инвестфонды General Catalyst и Accel Partners вышли из капитала Ostrovok.ru". TASS. 2014-09-17. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ "Бизнес без чемоданов: почему стоит жить и работать в России". Forbes. 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ "Феликс Шпильман заменит Сергея Фаге на посту гендиректора «Островка»". vc.ru. 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ ""Многие инвесторы поставили крест на России. И мы ничего не могли с этим поделать"". Kommersant. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "Где они сейчас: Что стало со стартапами, которые пять лет назад вызывали восторг". Секрет фирмы. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ "ostrovok.ru Traffic Statistics". SimilarWeb. Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
{{cite web}}
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