Coupa is putting its money into a new trend in business travel: so-called “open booking,” in which an employee manages his or her own travel booking and itinerary. In an announcement made Monday (July 20), Coupa said it will be promoting this trend among its business users through a new acquisition.
The company revealed plans to take over travel technology firm TripScanner, which offers open booking services for business users. According to reports, TripScanner’s services of allowing employees to book their own travel yet providing assurance that itineraries adhere to corporate travel policies will now land under the Coupa umbrella of travel and expense management services.
“Travel preferences and booking options are a personal experience for most people,” said Coupa CEO Rob Bernshteyn in a statement. “Many employees traveling on business today want to maintain the same autonomy they have when booking personal travel.”
He added that the goal of this buyout is to provide that autonomy and to boost compliance and savings for business users.
TripScanner offers employees a way to book accommodations and transportation through the travel booking sites they use in their personal lives yet provides a high level of insight for corporate travel managers. Itineraries are automatically reviewed, reports said, based on company policy.
The company also generates expense reports automatically. As an end-to-end solution, TripScanner said that it aims to strengthen automation and transparency in the business travel booking process.
“We launched TripScanner to transform the way companies handle the realities of unmanaged travel,” said TripScanner CEO Ethan Laub in his own statement. “As the modern world continues to disrupt legacy ways of conducting business travel, a tremendous opportunity exists to deliver increased travel compliance and savings to customers.”
Financial details of Coupa’s acquisition were not disclosed by the companies.
The travel and expense management service provider recently became B2B’s latest unicorn when last month the firm revealed an $80 million financing round, valuing the company at more than $1 billion.
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