Planned Secures $35 Million in Funding, Hopper’s CEO Joins Board

Canadian sourcing and booking platform Planned announced on Thursday that it had secured a $35 million round of Series B financing. Drive Capital led the round, which included Outsiders Fund and two other undisclosed firms.

This funding round brings Planned’s total funding to $65 million since its initial launch in 2017. According to the company, it has posted significant revenue growth this year—a fivefold gain. Planned told Skift Meetings it has “multi-millions” in annual recurring revenue and expects to reach profitability by 2025.

“We’ve made remarkable strides since our Series A, achieving a 30x increase in revenue and earning the trust of major clients including PwC, Block, and AWS,” said Marc Bonin, CEO of Planned.

The company said it will use the funding to expand its AI offerings, continue its global expansion, and expand travel booking capabilities. 

Planned also announced that Hopper CEO and co-founder Frederic Lalonde would join its board. “Planned’s innovative approach makes it a standout in an industry that is almost tragically old school,” said Lalonde.

Plans for the Planned Platform

The Planned platform offers travel, venue and vendor sourcing and manages payments structured to work within corporate spending policies. 

The platform has opted not to offer an AI-powered chatbot interface and instead embeds AI into multiple features. The growing list of AI-powered features includes:

• Shortlisting appropriate venues based on an event brief
• Comparing event venues based on previous event data
• Pre-populating proposal requests 
• Offering price estimates

“Our vision is that by combining human service and AI, we can challenge the status quo that traditional travel & sourcing agencies (TMCs) present and provide a faster, more personalized service to clients. We believe that the TMC of the future has to be tech-enabled, and fundraising will allow us to accelerate our development,” said Bonin.