$4 billion startup TripActions is taking on $500 million in debt to launch a new product that helps

Publish date: 2024-07-21
2020-02-25T11:00:00Z

TripActions, the cloud enterprise travel startup, wants to make company travel even less of a hassle by making it easier for its customers to pay for business trips.

TripActions, a $4 billions startup which helps businesses manage their travel needs, is introducing a new feature, called TripActions Liquid, which would streamline the process of booking and financing trips.  The product includes a corporate credit card to offer a more convenient way of paying for travel expenses. To launch the new product, TripActions has secured $500 million in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank, Goldman Sachs and Comerica Bank.

"This is all about solving another pain point in business travel, everything that goes with payments while you're traveling for business from the time that you book your trip while you're traveling and eventually when you get back," TripActions CEO and cofounder Ariel Cohen told Business Insider. 

Michael Sindicich, TripActions general manager for special projects, said the new product aims to simplify what is a typically complex process for many businesses.

"There are 40 steps that we mapped out that happened during business travel, and a big big portion around the clunkiness, about business travel is actually around business travel payments," he told Business Insider. "It includes the hassle of travelers having to pay their own money and then do the reimbursement process which takes weeks or sometimes months down the line."

Most company travel booking systems entail booking, approval and reimbursement systems that can be complicated and even confusing. "This is actually a major, major pain point for all aspects of the business including business travel managers, including finance teams, and actually including a lot of the travelers that have to deal with it when they're on the road," Sindicich said.

TripActions' new offering underscores how some companies see the value of offering short-term loans and other forms financing to customers. For example, Brex, the corporate credit card startup, is expanding into other areas, including banking services.  Another startup, Patreon, a platform where users can subscribe to their favorite artists, has begun offering cash advances to digital creators.

TripActions said the new offering has received upbeat feedback from early users, including the ride-hailing company Lyft and the communications platform Zoom. The Palto, California company has roughly 4,000 customers and 1,100 employees.

Founded in 2015, TripActions, which recently hired its first chief financial officer, has raised about $482 million from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Ventures. The startup competes with the likes of SAP and American Express. 

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