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Key people at Emerging Travel Inc.
Emerging Travel Inc was founded in 2010 by Kirill Makharinsky (Cofounder, President).
Emerging Travel Inc is a Moscow, Russia-based international online travel company that operates B2B and B2C hotel booking and travel distribution platforms across more than one hundred source markets. The organization manages a global inventory of over one million accommodation options, which are aggregated from 85 wholesale suppliers and supported by 29,000 direct hotel contracts worldwide. Its consumer brand, Ostrovok.ru, generated $713 million in turnover with 5.4 million estimated users in 2018, while its B2B platform, RateHawk, serves over 15,000 travel professionals across 120 countries. To accelerate international expansion, the company closed a $10 million financing round in July 2019 backed by notable technology investors, including LVL1 Group founder Lev Leviev and Playrix co-founders Igor Bukhman and Dmitri Bukhman. Emerging Travel Inc was officially founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky.
Key people at Emerging Travel Inc.
Emerging Travel Inc was founded in 2010 by Kirill Makharinsky (Cofounder, President).
Emerging Travel Group (operating as Emerging Travel Inc. in Delaware, USA) is a global travel technology company that develops and operates online booking platforms, including RateHawk for travel professionals, ZenHotels for individual travelers, and Roundtrip for corporate business trips. These platforms serve over 220 markets, catering to 100K+ travel agencies, 1.2M+ individual clients, and 5K+ corporate customers, while enabling hoteliers to list properties via an Extranet tool.[1][2][4] The company reported $2.6BN in annual turnover in 2023, employs 3.9K+ people across 88+ countries, and handles 40K bookings daily with tech infrastructure supporting 30K requests per second.[1][2]
Its mission focuses on creating convenient travel products by innovating in the complex travel industry, simplifying bookings for individuals, professionals, and businesses alike.[2]
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Emerging Travel Group began as an online travel group offering booking solutions for accommodations, evolving into a multifaceted travel tech player.[1][2][3] Key leadership includes CEO Felix Shpilman, who guides its global expansion.[5] The company has grown rapidly, launching brands like RateHawk (9 years on market), ZenHotels (11 years), and Roundtrip (established 2022), while securing $10M in funding across one round.[3][4] Pivotal moments include reaching 220K+ hotel partners, integrating with 330+ suppliers, and recent partnerships like Sabre SynXis in 2024 to enhance distribution.[1][3]
Emerging Travel rides the digital transformation of travel, fueled by post-pandemic demand for seamless online bookings amid rising mobile and AI-driven personalization.[1][2] Timing aligns with global recovery, where tech enables access to 220+ emerging markets, countering legacy players through lower costs and B2B/B2C/B2E coverage.[3][4] Market forces like supplier integrations (e.g., Sabre) and affiliate expansions amplify its reach, while its infrastructure handles massive scale, influencing the ecosystem by empowering 220K+ hoteliers and 100K+ agencies in underserved regions.[1][3] This positions it as a bridge between fragmented supply and diverse demand in a $1T+ industry.
Emerging Travel is poised for accelerated growth through AI-enhanced search, deeper airline/car integrations, and Roundtrip's corporate expansion amid hybrid work trends.[1][4] Rising travel volumes in Asia-Pacific/CIS and sustainability-focused tools could drive turnover beyond $2.6BN, with potential for acquisitions or IPO as funding history suggests investor interest.[3] Its tech-first model will shape a more accessible global travel ecosystem, empowering professionals and individuals as before—simplifying journeys in an increasingly connected world.[2]
