The first ETH unicorn galops ahead

Unicorns are an extremely rare species, as everyone knows. Investors use the term ¡°unicorn¡± to describe start-ups which are so promising that their market value exceeds one billion dollars even before they go public with an IPO. Famous names in the unicorn club include Uber, Snapchat and Airbnb.

external page GetYourGuide, an online platform for tourist and leisure activities founded by ETH doctoral students in 2009, has just received a massive injection of funds ¨C almost 500 million US dollars ¨C to join just a handful of Swiss companies with the exclusive unicorn status.

Three questions to the founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, CEO Johannes Reck (33).

Mr Reck, congratulations! Now you can sit back and enjoy your success.
Far from it! Obviously we¡¯re delighted about the successful financing round, as it gives us the necessary flexibility to continue to develop in the extremely competitive travel market. But the financial backing naturally comes with investors¡¯ high expectations as well, so we have a lot of work ahead of us. We are very excited about carrying on our mission and helping travellers across the world to find and book the best experiences in their travel destinations.

GetYourGuide has only been going for ten years. When you first started, did you ever dream you could get so big one day?
I certainly dreamt about it, but never actually expected it, of course. And size is relative, in any case. We still have a long way to go when it comes to making travellers aware that they can also book tours and activities on line. In view of this, we want to make the platform more international on the one hand, and become established in the USA, for example. On the other hand we are keen to expand our range, offer more categories and provide an even more personalised experience with our products.

You initially got GetYourGuide off the ground while you were studying. What did ETH bring you personally, as far as your company is concerned?
An awful lot. Initially it was analytical and critical thinking, a long-term perspective and ¨C last but not least ¨C the conviction that one can succeed in the marketplace with smart technology and impressive content. In concrete terms, when we set up the new company we benefited from the excellent mentoring system provided by the ETH technology transfer office. This system is one of a kind in Europe, and I am still very grateful for the help we received back then.