SEP invests in Dohop

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has completed an investment in travel technology company Dohop to accelerate its plans to transform how airlines and other travel providers enable passengers to build complex itineraries as the global travel industry transforms in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dohop’s virtual interlining technology allows airlines to seamlessly connect with each other, and with other travel providers, without relying on legacy booking systems and complex and inflexible interline agreements. Travellers can then create an itinerary composed of flight segments from multiple airlines. This has cost and convenience benefits over flight availability from individual airlines, airline alliances and online travel agencies. Unlike conventional interline solutions, Dohop can easily combine flights from low-cost carriers, full-service carriers and hybrid airlines into a single itinerary, expanding passengers’ choices on how, when and at what price they wish to travel. The Dohop platform supports IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard, which enables improved distribution of airline tickets and ancillaries.

Dohop also offers a protected connection (Dohop Connect) which assists passengers with re-booking, accommodation and other travel services in the event of a missed connection, schedule change or cancelled flight. The combination of revolutionary virtual interlining technology and first-rate passenger services has enabled Dohop to establish itself as the technology partner of choice for 35 airlines and airports across five continents including Avianca, easyJet, Eurowings, Gatwick Airport, Jetstar, Transavia and Volotea.

SEP’s investment will enable Dohop to ramp up its team in Reykjavik and internationally, and to expand its global sales and support capabilities at a time when airlines need new solutions to increase flight options as their networks and operations begin to recover from the worst disruption in the history of commercial aviation. Dohop’s technology enables airlines to offer their passengers the maximum choice of routes, while maintaining the airline’s direct relationship with the passenger throughout their journey. Funding will also allow Dohop to develop its intermodal solutions, enabling airlines to cross-sell train tickets alongside flights, resulting in increased choice, convenience, cost savings and environmental benefits for travellers.

Stuart Paterson, Partner at SEP, who will join the Dohop board as a non-executive Director, said: “Dohop is led by a strong and ambitious team, well connected across the airline industry. Its software platform has the ability to revolutionise how travel is distributed and is rapidly becoming the de-facto choice for airlines seeking to collaborate and cross-sell. We look forward to bringing our travel and technology knowledge and our experience of scaling Skyscanner from a flight search engine to a global leader in travel, to help Dohop achieve its growth potential.”

David Gunnarsson, CEO of Dohop, added: “Joining forces with SEP will enable us to become the technology provider that airlines need now more than ever, on a global scale and with the resources to connect every airline to their partners of choice. In just over three years, we have built the world’s largest next generation interline platform. With SEP’s support, we plan to connect the world’s leading airlines, airports and other travel providers into a platform that allows them to increase passenger choice and confidence about travel. SEP’s experience of growing global technology leaders, and their unique insight into travel distribution, made them our partner of choice for this funding round. We are delighted that they have chosen to back us on our mission to revolutionise travel connectivity.”