10 years ago, Klook was launched with a humble passion for helping travelers find travel activities easily. Now, Klook has become a global company with a grand mission of enabling and inspiring joy for everyone. What a journey we have had!
To celebrate this special anniversary, we decided to book a ride on Doraemon’s time machine to look back into the 10 biggest milestones in Klook’s history – 10 moments that are pivotal in shaping the Klook you know today.
From the first version of our website to being the Official Experience Partner of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Singapore and Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour in Hong Kong, let’s see if you might figure out the rest of our key milestones in the past 10 years…
1. We went live with a website
The first version of Klook's website. Do you notice the difference from the current look?
This month, 9 years ago, Klook was officially launched as a website to book travel activities. It looked so different from the platform you see right now, but the spirit remains the same: to help travelers find and book activities that bring them joy.
2. We have an app!
A digital banner to promote Klook's first-ever app
The good thing about the timing of Klook’s launch is that back in 2014, our team already knew how important it was for a travel company to have an app. So after launching the website, the tech team (which was much leaner than we have right now!) quickly focused on creating a Klook app. The Klook app was finally launched in 2015, enabling us to accelerate our user base's growth.
3. We expanded in Asia
Our Singapore team did offline activation in 2016 to introduce Klook to the country
One quality that Klook embodies since the early days is we dream big. So after we successfully launched our website and app in Hong Kong and Taiwan, our next target was to reach a much bigger audience: the rest of Asia!
We scaled our effort in 2016 by expanding to Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia. The rest, as often said, is history.
4. Established as a unicorn
#TeamKlook enjoyed a bonding time together
By 2018, our success story reached many places, so it's no wonder that more investors were interested in investing in our team and our dream. We finally reached unicorn status that year with the Series D funding, and became one of few privately-held startups in Asia valued at over $1 billion.
5. Reaching Europe and beyond
Our dream didn’t stop in Asia. That same year, we expanded our team to Europe to allow us to onboard more travel activities in Europe and the US and reach an audience beyond Asia. In 2018, we truly became a global company!
6. Reaching a new height
Klook Travel Fest 2019 was held in several countries in Asia, a big sign of our success in the region
We reached a new height in 2019, thanks to the enormous growth we recorded that year. We crossed the 5-million mark for trusted customer reviews and served users from more than 95% of the world. We recorded a new record high for our yearly revenue. Klook became a leading travel company in Asia, and we were also getting stronger in Europe and the US.
7. Powering through the pandemic
Klook thrived during the pandemic thanks to a quick pivot to at-home activities and domestic travel like staycations
2020 and 2021 were dark years for the travel world, because of you-know-what. But it didn’t stop us. Our team quickly pivoted our efforts to at-home activities and building domestic travel, and we started to see the fruit of our efforts in 2021. We didn’t only survive the pandemic – we emerged stronger.
8. A brand new look, a stronger identity
Klook entered a new era with a rebrand in March 2022
Our rebrand in March was an important milestone for us. It allowed us to shape our brand in the new world of travel. It carried a redefined mission. It gave us a stronger identity. Now, Klook is not only a platform for travelers to book travel activities. It’s a platform that enables our users to experience joy!
9. Making Swifties’ wildest dreams come true
Tay Tay has helped pave the way for Klook's footing in music tourism
You might have seen the headlines or heard it from the news. As the Official Experience Partner of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in Singapore, we sold out concert bundles in 6 hours without a glitch! Cross-team efforts across regions have made this possible. We even had a 'war room' set up for this. One month of 'blood, sweat, and tears' paid off when we witnessed success through the intense sale on our app.
10. Turning 10 with Series E+ funding and a focus on sustainable tourism
We made it on Forbes for our US$210 million in funding and collaborated with merchants to launch once-in-a-lifetime experiences in celebration of our 10th anniversary
Klook's 2024 highlight is none other than our Biggest Travel Sale of the Decade and first KREATORVERSE for over 150 Klook Kreators and media & industry partners across 15 markets.
That’s not all—we also treated our customers to free money-can't-buy experiences for lasting joyful memories. In the sustainability department, we leveled it up by introducing our 'Klook Assessed' program for responsible elephant sanctuaries and 'Certified Sustainable Partner' badges on activity pages, allowing customers to make informed sustainable choices and travel for a good cause.
One thing's for sure: the future of travel and experiences is bright. We can't wait to see what we're unwrapping in our next decade!
Want to be part of our next decade?
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