TravelDaily – Zhinanmao (which means compass cat), an O2O platform specializing in customized travel, announced that it raised a multi-million RMB Pre-A round of financing from Zhonglu Group following a previous multi-million RMB angel investment by Mount Venture Capital.
Zhinanmao has already uploaded three apps – Zhinanmao Travel, Bestway and Best travelbuddy – within six months of entering the mobile app sector.
Zhinanmao Travel mainly offers travel consulting and itinerary design services. Users submit their requests to Zhinanmao’s accredited travel designers who prepare an itinerary and offer consulting. After users confirm their itinerary Zhinanmao will act as an intermediary to make bookings with its selected third-party businesses.
Bestway mainly offers professionally generated content (PGC) devoted to suggesting off-the-beaten-track travel in global destinations as travel decision references. Bestway’s content is generated by experienced travelers who stand to get a reward when they get positive evaluation from users for their designed travel routes. This ensures more objective, clearer and practical itineraries than unorganized information and subjective travel blogs.
Zhinanmao CEO Jing Ren said Best Companion was launched to fill a vacuum for the need to search for travel companions in customized travel. Best Companion focuses on servicing a highly cultured clientele, matching them through a unique algorithm that factors in users’ values and encouraging users to be proactive in their travel plans. (Translation by David)
