Lola.com

Type of site

| Corporate travel SaaS
Available in| English
Created by| Paul M. English
Bill O'Donnell
Website| lola.com
Commercial| Yes
Registration| Required
Launched| July 6, 2015; 10 years ago (2015-07-06)
Current status| Offline

Lola.com is a software as a service (SaaS) company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is best known for developing corporate travel management and expense software for web browsers, the App Store and Google Play.[1] The company was founded in 2015 by former Kayak.com executives, Paul M. English and Bill O'Donnell.[2][3]

The website operates under a travel agency model for hotel and flight search information as well as booking services for businesses. It also has administrative analytics on employee travel and associated costs.[4] Lola has received more than $80 million in funding since its foundation.[5]

## History

In July 2015, Blade, a Boston-based incubator, began focusing on a single startup. By December, English announced that Lola had emerged from stealth mode. The company's name was derived from a combination of the words "latitude" and "longitude".[6]

It acquired HopOn, a travel booking company, in 2015 and Room77, a hotel metasearch website, in 2016.[7][8] The company launched an iOS application in April 2016 where users chatted with human travel agents.[9] That same month, it completed a $20 million Series A funding round led by General Catalyst and Accel.[10]

The company had more than $44 million in total funding after a December 2016 Series B round led by Charles River Ventures.[5] GV and Tenaya Capital each invested $5 million in the round, while previous investors General Catalyst and Accel also participated.[5] In July 2017, Lola had its second major release on iOS and the Android operating system. This iteration of the application focused on business travel by adding self-service hotel and flight booking and personalized travel recommendations.[11]

In July 2018, English announced he would assume the role of chief technology officer at Lola, with Mike Volpe, the chief marketing officer at Cybereason, becoming the company's chief executive officer.[12] Lola announced a five-year exclusive partnership with American Express Global Business Travel in November 2018 to sell its travel management software.[13]

In March 2019, the company announced a $37 million Series C round led by General Catalyst and Accel.[14] The round also included participation from all previous investors – Charles River Ventures, GV, and Tenaya Capital.[14]

In February 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism, the company pivoted to developing software for the financial technology industry.[15]

Lola ceased operations in September 2021 according to a notice on its website citing "new things to come" for the company.[16] In October 2021, it was announced that Capital One was acquiring Lola.[17]

## References

1. ↑ O'Brien, Kelly (2017-10-04). "Paul English's Lola Travel reboots with businesspeople in mind". https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2017/10/04/paul-englishs-lola-travel-reboots-with.html.
2. ↑ Castellanos, Sara (2015-12-02). "Everything you need to know about Kayak co-founder's new travel startup". https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2015/12/everything-you-need-to-know-kayak-co-founders-new.html.
3. ↑ Flynn, Kerry (4 October 2017). "This app wants to be the easiest, fastest way to book travel" (in en). https://mashable.com/2017/10/04/lola-app-launch-business-travel-kayak-paul-english/.
4. ↑ Lieberman, Melanie (2017-10-06). "Every Business Traveler Can Now Have Their Own Personal Assistant" (in en). https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-tips/mobile-apps/lola-app-business-travel-personal-assistant.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Whittaker, Zack (2017-01-09). "Kayak co-founder Paul English raises $15M for his travel startup Lola" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/09/lola-series-b/.
6. ↑ Bilis, Madeline (2015-12-03). "Kayak Cofounder Paul English Is Introducing His New Venture, Lola" (in en-US). https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/12/03/paul-english-lola/.
7. ↑ "Paul English's startup Lola will rethink travel agency tech first" (in en). https://www.phocuswire.com/Paul-Englishs-startup-Lola-will-rethink-travel-agency-tech-first.
8. ↑ "Lola Travel Agent App Acquires Room 77 Technology" (in en-US). 2016-11-15. https://skift.com/2016/11/15/lola-travel-agent-app-acquires-room-77-technology/.
9. ↑ Avakian, Talia. "We tested a new app from a cofounder of Kayak, and it was like having a travel agent in our pocket". https://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-lola-travel-app-2016-5.
10. ↑ O'Neil, Sean (2016-04-05). "Lola, a travel concierge startup, closes its $19.7 million Series A" (in en). https://www.phocuswire.com/Lola-a-travel-concierge-startup-closes-its-$19-7-million-Series-A.
11. ↑ Biesiada, Jamie (2017-10-04). "Lola chat app squares focus on business travel: Travel Weekly" (in en). https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/Lola-chat-app-squares-focus-on-business-travel.
12. ↑ Maffei, Lucia (2018-07-16). "Cybereason CMO Mike Volpe to Become CEO of Lola". https://www.americaninno.com/boston/bostinno-bytes/cybereason-cmo-mike-volpe-will-be-leaving-in-august-to-take-ceo-role/.
13. ↑ O'Brien, Kelly (2018-11-13). "Travel startup Lola.com to partner with American Express venture". https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2018/11/13/travel-startup-lola-com-to-partner-with-american.html.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lunden, Ingrid (2019-03-26). "Lola.com raises $37M to take on SAP and others in the world of business travel". https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/26/lola-raises-37m-to-take-on-sap-and-others-in-the-world-of-business-travel/.
15. ↑ "Four months after pivot, Lola.com CEO says he sees results". https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno/stories/news/2021/02/25/four-months-after-pivot-lolacom-ceo-says-he-sees.html.
16. ↑ "Travel management firm Lola ceases operations: Travel Weekly" (in en). https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Corporate-Travel/Travel-management-firm-Lola-ceases-operations.
17. ↑ "Lola.com is being acquired by Capital One". https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2021/10/08/lola-com-is-being-acquired-by-capital-one.html.

## External links

* Official website
* From CMO To CEO: Lola.com's Mike Volpe

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