Tripfez wins $750,000 seed funding from Chinese and Malaysian investors

Photo: Tripfez co-founders Juergen Gallistal (L) and Faeez Fadhlillah (R)

Tripfez, the online marketplace to search and book Muslim-friendly hotels, tours and activities, has won $750,000 in seed investment, the company said in a statement today.

The round was led by Shanghai-based Gobi Partners, Malaysia's Intres Capital, and angel investors including Douglas Khoo, co-founder of Baidu-owned Qunar, one of China's largest online travel sites.

Malaysia-based Tripfez said it will allocate a portion of the investment to bring on new talents to expand its offerings.

This includes the expansion of its inventory of hotels and restaurants on its Salam Standard platform and invest in its technological capabilities, including the development of an API for use with partners, it said. 

Tripfez currently features over 200,000 properties worldwide, in which more than 20,000 are Salam Standard certified, said the company.

Launched in October last year, Salam Standard divides properties into three categories – Bronze, Silver, and Gold – based on the range of halal or Muslim-friendly facilities and services they offer to guests.

The company will also channel the investment into promotion and marketing activities. Tripfez co-founder Faeez Fadhlillah told Salaam Gateway in March that the company would allocate "a high six-digit dollar amount" into promotion, marketing and further development of the site by the end of this year.

Fadhlillah said the company's target markets for marketing and advertising would be ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as the countries in the Middle East.

(Writing by Emmy Abdul Alim)

© SalaamGateway.com 2016