Wellington Partners, who previously funded numerous ground-breaking mobile companies, are excited by the unique opportunity in YPlan’s business model.
Daniel Waterhouse, General Partner at the venture capital firm, said: “We’ve seen a huge shift to mobile commerce in the last couple of years as consumers carry out more of their day to day living using their smartphones with apps like Spotify and Hailo. With YPlan, this here-and-now convenience extends to going out. In two taps, one can have an amazing night out booked, something, which in the pre YPlan era was a near-impossible task. We’re thrilled to be backing Rytis, Viktoras and the rest of this incredible team.”
Octopus Investments, who previously invested in Graze.com, Zoopla and SwiftKey, have also committed their support. Frederic Lardieg, who led the investment at Octopus, said: “At the intersection of online and offline, YPlan brings the convenience of last-minute booking to the entertainment space. The mobile app delivers a beautiful experience that people will find easy and intuitive. Octopus looks forward to working with the team to deliver the next generation of mobile commerce technology to the entertainment industry.”
YPlan’s $1.7m seed round included several angel investors and advisers from the technology, design, music and entertainment sectors. Among them: serial entrepreneur Brent Hoberman (co-founder of lastminute.com), Sherry Coutu (advisory board member for LinkedIn), Andy Phillips (booking.com), Tom Hulme (IDEO), Peter Read (Songkick), Gi Fernando (Techlightenment), Robert Linney (Chemical Brothers), and BaltCap (the largest VC fund in the Baltics).
Founded by entrepreneurs Viktoras Jucikas and Rytis Vitkauskas in 2012, the YPlan team has grown to include a dedicated team of experts with unrivalled experience at Time Out, toptable, GetTaxi, Songkick, Airbnb and lastminute.com. Rytis said: “We’re confident that with the team and expertises on board, we will deliver a revolutionary app for London and beyond.”
