Hopper was founded in April 2007 by Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk, both of whom were executives at Expedia Group.[3][4] It started as a travel planning tool with which a user could search for different places and activities.[4]
In 2012, Dakota Smith joined as a third co-founder and the company received $12 million in Series B funding from investment funds such as OMERS and Atlas Venture.[5]
In January 2014, Hopper was launched after developing its platform for over six years as a startup and new technology incubator.[4] During the development phase between 2007 and 2014, Hopper developed technology that crawled over two billion web pages for travel-related information and added it to Hopper database.[4] In April 2014, Seth Kugel published an article that covered Hopper's online research reports that gave details on how travelers could optimize their travel costs.[6] Hopper shifted its business model in May 2014, becoming a big data-driven website that helped travelers choose where to fly and when to buy their tickets.[2]
In January 2015, the app was launched with functions such as flight price prediction and real-time price monitoring.[7]
In March 2016, $62 million was received in funding to further develop its airfare prediction algorithm.[8] A year later, in 2017, the company expanded its platform by adding a hotel booking service.[9]
In October 2018, the company received an investment of $100 million in funding to expand its services internationally.[10]
In late 2019, the company added fintech-based functions designed to help users optimize their travel costs.[11] In the same year, Hopper launched a sustainability initiative called "Hopper Trees." Within the framework of this program, Hopper funds tree planting for every travel booking made through the company, aiming to offset carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. To facilitate this endeavor, Hopper has partnered with various nonprofit organizations, including Eden Reforestation Projects, which began in 2019, and Veritree, which commenced in 2023.[12][13]
In March 2021, the company became a unicorn after receiving an investment of $170 million from Capital One.[14][15] In August 2021, it raised an additional $175 million in a series G funding round led by GPI Capital.[11]
In January 2022, Hopper Homes was launched to provide short-term home rentals.[16][17] A month later, in February 2022, the company was valued at $5 billion after a $35 million secondary share sale.[18] It received $96 million in additional investment from Capital One in November 2022.[19]
Acquisition history
In late 2019, Hopper acquired a Colombian travel company, named GDX Travel.[15]
In October 2021, the company acquired PlacePass, a Boston-based online booking service.[20] In the same year, Hopper also acquired a trip-planning service, Journy.[21]
In February 2022, a Paris-based merchandising services provider, Smooss, was acquired, for an undisclosed amount.[22]
Technology and applications
Hopper uses machine learningalgorithms to dynamically change the price of its fintech offers, which are designed to provide some flexibility for users.[23] Initially, its price-forecasting algorithm that uses historical data to predict flight's price, was designed in 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[24][25]
Hopper applies its technology to give its users some additional fintech functions based on historical data, including "price freezing to protect against pricing volatility",[26] "cancelling or changing flight bookings at short notice",[27][28] or if a flight is delayed for any reason, changing it without overcharging.[29]
HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions)
In 2021, the company launched its business-to-business initiative HTS,[19][21] where enterprises can use its white-label travel portals or distribute Hopper's travel and fintech products.[19]
Hopper's customers include Capital One, where Hopper develops its travel booking portal, Capital One Travel.[19]
