Hurb

Hurb (formerly Hotel Urbano) is the largest online travel agency based in Brazil.[1] Founded in January, 2011 by brothers José Eduardo and João Ricardo Mendes, Hurb was valued at R$ 2 billion or approximately US$560 million when Booking Holdings purchased a small percentage for US$60 million in 2015, although this investment was totally written off and sold at an undisclosed price in 2016.[2][3][4][5][6] Its headquarters are in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Hurb Technologies
Founded2011 (2011) in Rio de Janeiro Brazil
HeadquartersRio de Janeiro, Brazil
OwnerJoão Ricardo Mendes, Priceline.com and Tiger Global
Key peopleCarlos Zanaca, Otávio Brissant, Renato Elias, Lucas Rolim and João Ricardo Mendes
IndustryTravel Technology
ServicesTravel agency
URLwww.hurb.com

History

The company was initially founded as a collective buying website in 2011.[3] It was operated under this business model for only 5 months. Also in 2011, the two brothers repositioned the company in the market, and it then began operating as an online travel agency with focus on short-term off-season packages. In this new model, lodging rates are reduced in up to 40% compared to high-season rates.[2][3][5]

In a few rounds of investment, American fund companies Insight Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management invested in the company. They are known to have invested in companies such as Facebook, Netflix and LinkedIn.[2][3][7]

The company began marketing hotel accommodations and international travel packages. In 2013, it offered hotels and travel packages to 35,000 destinations in over 180 countries.[7]

The company's Facebook page is the most popular tourism page in the world (with 12 million fans) and is the 4th most popular page in Brazil.[7][8][9][10][11]

2014 to Present

By the end of 2014, the company had formed a partnership with Rock in Rio and became the only Brazilian company to market travel packages to the two festival editions in 2015.[12][13]

In the beginning of 2015, the company formed a partnership with RentalCars.com that allowed it to market car reservation and rental services in over 26 thousand destinations in 180 countries.[8][14]

The company implemented an Administrative Council in 2015, made up of independent members. These members are: Derek Zissman, former director of the KPMG group in the UK; Stelleo Tolda, executive vice-president and operations director at Mercado Livre; Leonardo Rocha, a business executive who has worked at Telefônica, Ponto Frio and Camargo Corrêa. The Council also includes the participation of João Ricardo Mendes and José Eduardo Mendes, founders of the company, and Brad Twohig, managing partner, and Elodie Dupuy, vice-president of Insight Venture Partners, an investment fund company that has led three rounds of investments in the company.[15][16]

Also in 2015, Booking Holdings invested US$60 million the company and gained a minority stake in the business.[17] This partnership aimed to expand the company's operations, especially in Latin America, through the global network of more than 780 thousand lodging partners who benefit from Priceline.com.[18][19][20][21]

However, in May 2016, Priceline declared that due to disappointing 2015 results, reduced forecasts, and the need for additional funding, it would write down 85% of its investment in Hurb.[22] In August 2016, the group announced having written down in full its investment.

In 2021, Hurb has created Hurb Labs to focus on new verticals and recently has acquired Squair, an artificial intelligence leading company in Latam, and also Envision, a B2B technology platform.

A comprehensive report on Online Travel mention Hurb co as top 5 major player in the market

In 2022 Artur Souza VP Business Engineering of Meta Facebook become Board Member of the company. Artur has experience with Linux, building software with the open source community for the past 20 years. XFN skills by creating bridges between business teams and engineering teams. Public speaking experience, doing presentations for partners, clients and developers/engineers. Seasoned Engineering leader, strong XFN partner, good developer skills and creative problem solving. 10 Years of experience at Facebook leading engineering teams (> 200) across the globe (US, EMEA, APAC, LATAM) building software to solve business challenges.

Hurb Co

In 2014, the company launched a website for vacation room rentals in Brazil called Voltem.com.[3]

In 2015, the company made an investment contribution of R$5 million to improve the Voltem.com platform.[23][24] As of November 2017, the site does not exist anymore.

In 2018, the company start it's Global expansion.

In 2021, the company invested over R$80 million in Hurb Labs. Hurb Labs under the name of Loonshot Factory already have invested in Clean Energy, Mobility, Sustainability.

In 2022 Hurb Loonshot Factory develop the first Autonomous Boat to transport people. Arya Project will be a new option for urban mobility capable of saving people's time and integrating the existing urban fabric. Similar vessels are already starting to operate in other countries, such as "Roboat", in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In Brazil, the Arya will be the first model in operation, with the know-how of TideWise another company under Hurb Co.

Awards
  • 2014: Prêmio Empreendedor do Ano EY – (EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award) to João Ricardo Mendes.[25]
  • 2014: The only travel agency among the most respected companies in Brazil.[26]
  • 2014: Prêmio Exame: best customer service in the tourism segment in Brazil.[27]
  • 2014: Prêmio Época Reclame Aqui. Best companies for consumers, in the category "tourism and leisure".[28]
  • 2014: Prêmio Skifties: Best tourism startup in social networks in the world.[29]
  • 2014: Prêmio IstoÉ: Most conscious company, in the category "Employee Relations"[30]
  • 2014: Prêmio 100+ Inovadoras: 100 most innovative companies in the use of IT, in the category "Various Services".[31]
  • 2014: Prêmio GPTW: The Best Companies to Work for – Retail.[32]
  • 2015: Prêmio Consumidor Moderno: Customer Service Excellence in the tourism category.[33]
  • 2015: Prêmio Exame IBRC: Best company in customer service in the tourism and e-commerce sector.[34]
  • 2016: 2° vez consecutiva o Prêmio Consumidor Moderno e excelência em serviços com o cliente.
  • 2017: Tricampeão no Prêmio Consumidor Moderno e excelência em serviços com o cliente e Uma das melhores empresas para se trabalhar segundo o Great Place to Work.
  • 2018: Tetracampeões no Prêmio Consumidor Moderno e excelência em serviços com o cliente e Tetracampeões como uma das melhores empresas para se trabalhar segundo o Great Place to Work.

References
  1. "Hotel Urbano prevê faturar R$ 100 milhões com novo app" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  2. "O Hotel Urbano é a Netshoes do turismo" (in Portuguese). Exame. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  3. "Do zero ao bilhão" (in Portuguese). Exame PME. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  4. Revista Exame, Ed. Abril, "Já vale 2 bilhões de reais", September 2, 2015, pp. 30. (in Portuguese)
  5. Revista Forbes, Ed. Forbes, "Prodigiosos", February 1, 2014, pp. 52. (in Portuguese)
  6. "Rio bets it can become Brazil's Silicon Beach". Reuters. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  7. "Brazilian Vacation Bookings Goliath HotelUrbano Gets $20M Third Round Led By IVP". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  8. "Hotel Urbano firma parceria com RentalCars.com e Priceline para oferecer aluguel de carros em todo o mundo" (in Portuguese). Segs. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  9. "Hotel Urbano promove concurso do maior grito de "FÉÉÉÉRIIIIAAAS" no Facebook" (in Portuguese). Portal da Propaganda. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  10. "A ASCENSÃO DO HOTEL URBANO NO MERCADO DE TURISMO ONLINE" (in Portuguese). Época Negócios. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  11. "As marcas brasileiras com mais fãs no Facebook em novembro" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  12. "Hotel Urbano planeja crescer 58% em 2015" (in Portuguese). Brasil Economico. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  13. "Hotel Urbano será agência de viagens oficial do Rock in Rio" (in Portuguese). UOL. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  14. "Priceline's Rentalcars.com Could Be the Next Big Thing". Skift. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  15. "Hotel Urbano cria Conselho de Administração para abrir capital" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  16. "Hotel Urbano cria Conselho com vistas à abertura de capital" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  17. "Hotel Urbano recebe aporte de R$ 120 milhões para expandir operação" (in Portuguese). Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  18. "Grupo Priceline investe US$ 60 mi no Hotel Urbano" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  19. "Priceline partners with Hotel Urbano, invests $60M". Vator News. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  20. "Priceline Pours $60 Million Into Brazil's Hotel Urbano". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  21. "Hotel Urbano e Priceline anunciam parceria estratégica" (in Portuguese). E-commerce News. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  22. "Priceline Writes Down Nearly All of Its $60 Million Hotel Urbano Investment".
  23. "O Airbnb do Hotel Urbano" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  24. "Hotel Urbano investe 5 milhões de reais em site de aluguel por temporada" (in Portuguese). Info. Archived from the original on October 14, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  25. "Prêmio Empreendedor do Ano" (in Portuguese). EY. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  26. "Veja as 150 empresas mais respeitadas do país por setor" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  27. "O ranking do atendimento ao cliente em 2014" (in Portuguese). Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  28. "As empresas vencedoras do Prêmio ÉPOCA ReclameAqui" (in Portuguese). Epoca. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  29. "The Winners of Inaugural Skifties Social Media Travel Awards, the Full List". Skift. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  30. "IstoÉ premia as empresas mais conscientes do Brasil" (in Portuguese). Isto É. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  31. "100+ inovadoras em TI 2014" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  32. "Melhores Empresas para Trabalhar GPTW - Varejo" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  33. "VENCEDORES" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  34. "Uber, Netflix e Apple são exemplos de bom atendimento" (in Portuguese). Exame. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
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