Klook
“Can Klook become the dominant full-stack travel experiences platform in Asia Pacific by embedding financial services (insurance, payments, FX) directly into the booking journey while scaling profitably post-COVID?”
Founded in 2014 in Hong Kong, Klook began as a booking platform focused on in-destination experiences and activities for Asia's FIT travel market. The company expanded aggressively globally through 2018–2019 with large SoftBank-backed funding rounds, adding US, Europe, and Middle East markets. After navigating COVID-related travel shutdowns, Klook emerged in 2023 with first-time overall profitability and 3x pre-pandemic volumes, having deepened its embedded finance stack — layering on travel insurance (MSIG, FWD), multi-currency FX treasury infrastructure, and an Adyen-powered payments stack — as well as AI-driven operational efficiency via Google Cloud.