International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised Dohop, an award-winning travel technology provider based in Iceland, on its growth equity round from Scottish Equity Partners (SEP).
The investment will enable Dohop to ramp up its team, both in Reykjavik and internationally and to expand its global sales and support capabilities at a time when airlines are seeking new solutions to increase flight options in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. SEP's funding will also support Dohop to offer intermodal solutions, allowing airlines to cross-sell train tickets alongside flights, resulting in increased choice, convenience, cost savings and environmental benefits for travellers.
Dohop's unique virtual interlining technology allows airlines to seamlessly connect with each other, and with other travel providers, without relying on legacy booking systems and complex and inflexible interline agreements. This in turn enables a passengers to create an itinerary composed of flight segments from multiple airlines. This has cost and convenience benefits over traditional flight availability from individual airlines, airline alliances and online travel agencies. The Dohop platform supports IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard, which enables improved distribution of airline tickets and ancillaries.
Dohop also offers travellers a protected connection (Dohop Connect), assisting passengers with re-booking, accommodation and other travel services in the event of a missed connection, schedule change or cancelled flight. The combination of revolutionary virtual interlining technology and first-rate passenger services has enabled Dohop to establish itself as the technology partner of choice for 35 airlines and airports across five continents including Avianca, easyJet, Eurowings, Gatwick Airport, Jetstar, Transavia and Volotea.
David Gunnarsson, CEO of Dohop, said: "We received fantastic support from the Osborne Clarke team. Their extensive experience of similar transactions was enormously helpful and from beginning to end they were easy to work with, pragmatic and always available. They demonstrated an ability to combine a deep understanding of the legal issues with pragmatic advice and "no surprises" deal management."
Partners Andrew Saul and Michael Lewis and Senior Associate Chris Voelker advised Dohop.
Osborne Clarke’s Corporate team, which is Tier 1 ranked for Venture Capital work by the Legal 500, is considered the go-to practice for many businesses, working with leading global businesses, fast-growth start-ups and market challengers. In 2020 for the third year running Osborne Clarke was named Corporate Law Firm of the Year at the South West Insider Deal Awards.
