Direct Travel acquired by Steve Singh & growth investors

Direct Travel has been acquired by Steve Singh, a venture capitalist and founder of travel and expense management company, Concur, alongside growth investors Durable Capital Partners, Madrona Ventures, Top Tier Capital Partners, and Blackstone Credit & Insurance. 

According to a press release, Singh will serve as Executive Chairman of Direct Travel, and Christal Bemont will assume the role of CEO.

"Over the past few years, our investment group has sought out companies that are re-inventing key elements of the travel ecosystem with a goal of delivering a dramatically better value proposition to business travelers, the companies they work for, and the travel providers that serve them. Spotnana, Center and Troop are re-inventing and dramatically improving core elements of the travel technology stack. Direct Travel sets the bar for customer experience. We are delighted to invest in and partner deeply with what we believe will be the market leading travel management company," said Singh in a press release Tuesday (April 2).  

"We are honoured to serve thousands of clients across North America and the EU, ranging in size from thriving middle market businesses to some of the largest companies in the world. We will invest to meet our customers' current needs, grow our customer base in each of the markets we serve, methodically expand the number of markets we serve, and the breadth of products we deliver to our clients."

As part of the acquisition, long-serving CEO Ed Adams, who founded the company in 2011, plans to retire. 

Bemont, the newly appointed CEO of Direct Travel, was formerly CEO of Talend, and before that she served as the CRO of SAP Concur. She has extensive travel industry experience, having spent over 15 years at SAP Concur, a multi-billion-dollar company operating in 90 countries.

"I want to take this opportunity to recognize and thank Ed. He is an amazing person and accomplished leader who has developed a world-class organization with an unwavering commitment to customer success," said Bemont in a statement. "I look forward to building on this tremendous foundation supporting our existing customers, and, alongside the talented leaders at Direct Travel and several former Concur executives, our goal is to build the most admired and innovative travel management company in the industry."

Bemont continued: "Years ago, Steve laid out a vision for The Perfect Trip. Our announcement is a huge step toward making that vision a reality. Today the innovation begins as we embark on a new era of growth for the benefit of our customers." 

"Together with our technology partners and extensive supplier network, we will continue to invest in proprietary technology around user experience and dynamic client services, all of which we plan to make available as a service to other travel management companies."

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