Kayak.com is pumped up to start offline and online marketing campaigns in June and to expand into the U.K., Germany and France in the fall.
The travel search firm, headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., said it completed an $11.5 million Series C financing round, led by Accel Partners, which will be used to bolster both those initiatives.
With the investment, Kayak has raised about $30 million since its 2004 launch. Some $17 million came from General Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital; America Online chipped in about $2 million.
Kayak is losing money. The company won’t say how much, but officials said it lost less than the $6.3 million it projected it would lose in 2005. Revenue for the year was $3.6 million, officials said.
With the funding from Accel, which has offices in Silicon Valley and London, two partners, Harry Nelis and Judy Gibbons, join the Kayak board.
“Marketing campaigns cost money, but it’s necessary to launch Kayak.com into the mainstream,” said Kayak cofounder and CEO Steve Hafner.
Asked whether the infusion of funds from Accel means Kayak burned through investments from earlier rounds, Hafner said Kayak has not.
“In Accel, we found partners with expertise in community/social networking and mobile technology in addition to a strong European presence,” Hafner said.
“We needed money in Europe to recruit the best possible talent,” he said.
Kayak said that revenue and traffic are growing 15% to 30% month over month, with revenue edging traffic.
“We are on track to surpass 6 million unique visitors this month, and it’s a short month,” said Kayak vice president of communications Kellie Pelletier.
To contact reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].