CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --
ITA Software ended speculation about whether it will be acquired:
The travel technology company and new-entrant GDS landed $62.5
million in financing.
Company officials
said the financing is the first such cash infusion since Amadeus
threw about $1 million in seed money into the kitty in the
10-year-old companys early days.
Battery Ventures
led the round of Series A financing, joined by General Catalyst
Partners, PAR Investment Partners, Sequoia and Spectrum
Equity.
In funneling the $62.5
million into ITA, the venture capital firms took minority ownership
in the company. Employees and other unnamed investors -- none are
airlines -- have majority control of the company, ITA
said.
The infusion of
capital means that ITA Software, which first appeared on industry
radar when Orbitz contracted the company to use its flight search
technology, will have some staying power as it tries to grow its
two business lines.
Its two main
platforms are its QPX airline pricing and shopping system, used by
Alaska Airlines, Alitalia, Continental, US Airways, Galileo, Kayak and Orbitz, and its
fledgling alternative distribution system targeting corporate
travel agencies.
Michael Moritz, a
partner at Sequoia Capital, said ITA Softwares new technologies
will strip cost from the industry, allow travel agents to
specialize on offering higher value packages and usher in the era
of worldwide self-service.
General Catalyst
Partners (NLG, Kayak) and PAR Investment Partners (US
Airways-AmericaWest merger) already have travel industry
investments. Sequoia has funded Google, Yahoo, Apple and Oracle.
ITA Software was
founded in 1996 by MIT expatriates, including Jeremy Wertheimer,
CEO, and Carl de Marcken, chief scientist. It plans to compete with
the traditional GDSs and emerging distributors.
To contact
reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].