Plusgrade gets investment from General Atlantic to fuel growth, M&A

Plusgrade,
which provides ancillary revenue solutions for companies across the travel
industry, has received a strategic growth investment from General Atlantic.

Financial
terms of the investment are not being disclosed. As part of the transaction,
Novacap is exiting
its stake in Plusgrade and existing investor CDPQ is remaining as a “significant
shareholder.”

Founded
in 2009 and based in Montreal, Plusgrade works with more than 200 airline,
hospitality, cruise, passenger rail and financial services companies to help
them create new revenue streams through ancillary products and services.

In a post on LinkedIn, Plusgrade said it will leverage General Atlantic’s “deep expertise across travel, software and technology.” And General
Atlantic said along with the funding it will “partner with Plusgrade” to
support the company’s acceleration of new business segments, operational
initiatives and mergers and acquisitions.

In
the past two years, Plusgrade has made two acquisitions: Points.com
in 2022 and UpStay
in 2023.

“Ancillary revenue has
become a critical driver of financial robustness for travel companies in every
sector, and as the global ancillary revenue powerhouse, Plusgrade plays a
central role in helping our travel partners create, grow and enable major new revenue
opportunities,” said Ken Harris, founder and CEO of Plusgrade.

“We believe we have
significant opportunity ahead of us to continue innovating and building out our
leading portfolio even further. Our team is deeply grateful to Novacap for
their transformative partnership and all the new heights that we achieved
together. We are thrilled to welcome General Atlantic as a strategic partner to
help us accelerate our mission and vision by leveraging the firm’s deep
expertise across travel, software and technology.”

And said Tanzeen Syed,
managing director and head of consumer internet and technology at General
Atlantic, “With ancillary revenues and loyalty programs standing as some of the
most important drivers of growth in the travel industry today, we believe
Plusgrade is strongly positioned to continue capturing the market. We have
strong conviction in Plusgrade’s vision and are excited to support the company
in future value creation initiatives.”