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Travel search company SideStep Inc. has landed another $15 million in venture capital and a new backer, Norwest Venture Partners. The Santa Clara, Calif., company had already raised $17 million in equity from investors including Trident Capital. Trident, Leader Ventures and Saints Capital participated in the Series C financing, which Norwest led. The company will use the capital to expand its business internationally and build out its media and user-generated content offerings. Norwest General Partner Robert Abbott joined the SideStep board. SideStep, which got its start in 1999, faces a highly competitive market. Big names in travel search include Expedia Inc. and Travelocity.com LP. Another rival is Kayak.com, whose backers include Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital. Last year SideStep bought hotel-review site TravelPost.com Inc., which has compiled nearly 500,000 hotel reviews, photos and travel blogs. "I think they need to build that out further and make that more comprehensive," Abbott said. SideStep also needs to raise consumer awareness of its services and "become more of a travel media company as opposed to only vertical search," he said. Abbott said he was impressed with the comprehensiveness of the SideStep site, which unlike some others does not collect payments but sends customers directly to the airline, hotel or travel agency they select. He said President and Chief Executive Rob Solomon, who joined SideStep in January 2006, has done a great job of leading the company. Solomon spent six years at Yahoo Inc., where he ran its shopping group. |
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