Tourists have regained the pleasure of traveling to distant countries and the Exoticca platform, specialized in organizing luxury experiences, is experiencing a moment of full expansion after the pandemic.
The Barcelona firm has just obtained 20 million euros of debt in an operation led by Claret Capital Partners and Sabadell Venture Capital. “After the coronavirus, demand has skyrocketed and we want to step on the accelerator. We need money to invest in marketing and international expansion”, comments Pere Vallès, CEO of the company, chaired by Jesús Rodríguez.
Exoticca, which obtained another 25 million euros of capital a year ago, will use the money to strengthen its presence in North America – “we will invest in marketing campaigns in the United States and Canada” – and also hopes to grow in Latin America. The start-up is focused on Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina. In addition, Exoticca wants to strengthen agreements with traditional travel agencies. “Despite being a digital business, we see a great opportunity in selling our technology to traditional agencies. We have started reaching agreements with chains in the United States and soon we want to bring this proposal to the European market. At the moment, this business already contributes 10% of the income”, says Vallès, who in the past was CEO of the firm Scytl.
To carry out this expansion, Exoticca plans to increase the size of its team, reaching 300 people by the end of the year and 500 in 2023. The professionals work at the headquarters in Barcelona and also in a delegation located in Miami.
Vallès says that the increase in income will also give wings to the international expansion of the company. “This year, we plan to double sales and reach 120 million euros. At the moment, we are at a loss because we prefer to invest resources in growth, but next year we already expect to close positively and bill 200 million.”
Since its birth in 2016, the company has been financed with venture capital contributions. Throughout this time, it has obtained 66 million euros (including 20 million in debt) through various capital increases in which the founding team has lost 60% ownership.
