SAP SE-owned enterprise travel and business expense management firm Concur Technologies has acquired online travel startup Hipmunk Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2010, Hipmunk offers a travel search site that aims to help people book travel faster and more efficiently in differentiating itself by delivering results not just by price but also key factors that are important to business travelers, such as duration, stops, and hotel location. 

The company finds its results using artificial intelligence-powered travel search and travel bots. It focuses on allowing business travelers to easily find the best hotel and flight options based on meeting time and location, which it’s able to do through calendar and hotel map integration.

Concur itself was acquired by SAP for a whopping $8 billion in September 2014, bringing together what was described at the time as “the leading cloud-based Travel and Expense platform with the market-leading enterprise application software company.”

“This deal brings together two travel technology companies known for their commitments to innovation and creativity,” Atmosphere Research Founder Henry Harteveldt said in a statement. “The travel landscape continues to evolve with the pace of technology, a new generation of travelers, and a fluctuating global economy – factors that have a profound impact on how consumer and business travelers behave. This acquisition positions Concur and Hipmunk well to remain both market leaders and disruptors, furthermore, helping them stay ahead of the trend for a more personalized experience in both leisure and business travel.”

Travel growth

Although the price of the deal was not disclosed, the acquisition of Hipmunk is both a nice buy for SAP Concur and a decent exit for Hipmunk’s investors.

While Concur is by far the largest of the two companies, Hipmunk none the less delivers a more traditional consumer-facing service to the table. Concur is more of a backend service provider. While there’s no question that the travel market is highly over-saturated, Hipmunk has etched out its own niche and could benefit from the power of SAP and Concur.

Prior to acquisition, Hipmunk had raised $54.98 million from investors, including Ignition Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Y Combinator and a range of others. The acquisition is expected to close in October.

Image credit: Hipmunk