kimkim

What kimkim does

Kimkim (kimkim, Inc.) is a US-incorporated, privately held online travel agency founded in 2015 and headquartered in Menlo Park that designs and books personalized multi-day itineraries for independent travelers. Its platform connects travelers to a handpicked, destination-based network of local travel specialists across 90+ countries in Europe, the Middle East & Africa, Asia & Oceania, North & Central America, and South America. The consumer flow is a three-step process: (1) a quick travel quiz that captures traveler preferences, (2) a 1:1 chat with a matched local specialist who designs the itinerary, and (3) secure booking through kimkim's payment platform with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. The company also operates a 'Travel advisors' B2B partner program and a 'Become a local specialist' supply-side recruitment funnel, and it is registered as a Seller of Travel in California, Florida, and Washington.

The technology stack is a web-based OTA platform with a content management system covering 100+ destination guides, multi-day itineraries, hotels, activities, trip reviews, and traveler videos; social login via Google and Facebook OAuth; and manual and WhatsApp-based in-trip communication between travelers and specialists. There is no public API, SDK, or disclosed AI/ML functionality; specialist matching is described as 'handpicked' rather than algorithmically driven. Kimkim is BBB A+ accredited, a member of 1% for the Planet, and has been featured by the BBC, TechCrunch, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Adventure Travel Trade Association.

Kimkim monetizes primarily via marketplace commissions on multi-day itinerary bookings, paying local specialists, hotels, and activity providers out of the traveler-paid amount, with pricing quoted per trip rather than publicly disclosed. It supplements this with B2B/affiliate revenue from the Travel Advisors program. The company has raised approximately $3.65 million in disclosed equity funding across four rounds between 2015 and 2018 from NFX, iAngels, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Cennini Holdings, with no public funding events since 2018. Leadership comprises co-founder and CEO Joost Schreve, Head of Design Anke Pierik, Head of Engineering Chris McCarty, and Head of Community Alex Buri, with headcount in the 11–50 range.

Name

kimkim

Legal name

kimkim, Inc.

Website

https://kimkim.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kimkim is a US-based online travel agency that connects independent travelers with a handpicked global network of local travel specialists to design and book personalized multi-day itineraries across 90+ countries, monetizing via marketplace commissions on bookings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Travel Marketplace

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510), Tour Operators (56152), Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (56159)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Destination-Specific Custom Itinerary Specialists (THAKAOAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Destination & Local Services Marketplaces (Transfers, Guides, City Passes) (THALAFAK)

Keywords

• Online travel agency
• Custom trip planning
• Multi-day itineraries
• Travel marketplace
• Local travel specialists

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Commission / take rate on booked itineraries: Kimkim monetizes by taking a commission/margin on multi-day, custom itineraries booked through its platform — travelers pay the platform, which then pays local specialists, hotels, and activity providers. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.
2. Booking of hotels and activities marketplace: Beyond custom itineraries, kimkim sells pre-curated multi-day trips, hand-selected hotels (e.g., Cross Hotel Kyoto, Hotel Orto de' Medici, Tiziri Luxury Camp), and unique activities (cooking classes, private Vatican tours, Atlas Mountain day trips) — functioning as a marketplace for travel inventory.
3. Travel-advisor partner program: Kimkim operates a 'Travel advisors' program for outside travel agents and a 'Become a local specialist' program, generating B2B/affiliate-style revenue from advisors who use the platform to book client trips.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

kimkim operates an online travel agency that connects independent travelers with a curated network of local travel specialists who design personalized, multi-day itineraries for destinations worldwide. The platform facilitates discovery, communication, booking, and payment for accommodations, activities, and ground services assembled into a single trip plan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personalized multi-day trip itineraries Custom-designed multi-day travel itineraries for individual travelers, couples, and families, built by kimkim's network of vetted local specialists and booked through the kimkim platform.
• Travel advisor referral program A partnership channel that allows independent travel advisors to leverage kimkim's local specialist network and platform when serving their own clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% satisfaction guarantee on every booking — 'if you are not fully satisfied, we'll work with you to make it right'
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship sustainability partnership, flagship trust signal, flagship industry body membership, core authentication integration, flagship social channel, regional partner and core network of hundreds of local partners.

• 1% for the Planetflagship sustainability partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerKimkim is a member of 1% for the Planet, a global network of businesses that commit 1% of revenue to environmental causes. The 1% for the Planet logo is shown in the homepage footer with a link to a dedicated article (/c/kimkim-joins-1-percent-for-the-planet) explaining the partnership and its goal to help travelers travel sustainably. The relationship is bidirectional — kimkim gets sustainability credentials and the 1% network gets tourism-sector participation.
• Better Business Bureau (BBB)flagship trust signalOthersKimkim is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating; the BBB logo and accreditation badge are displayed in the homepage footer. This is a one-way trust/accreditation relationship — the BBB vets kimkim's business practices, and kimkim displays the badge as a customer-trust signal.
• Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA)flagship industry body membershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKimkim is a member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association; the ATTA logo is displayed in the homepage footer alongside press mentions as a mark of industry membership and credibility in the adventure-travel sector.
• Google (OAuth)core authentication integrationTechnology or IntegrationKimkim's sign-in page (/u/sign_in) offers a 'Continue with Google' OAuth option, integrating Google's identity services for user authentication. Also referenced on the homepage as a sign-in channel.
• Facebook (Meta)core authentication integrationTechnology or IntegrationKimkim's sign-in page (/u/sign_in) offers a 'Continue with Facebook' OAuth option, integrating Facebook's identity services for user authentication. Several user profile photos in reviews are also pulled from Facebook's graph API (e.g., graph.facebook.com/v8.0/{user_id}/picture).
• LinkedInflagship social channelGTM or Marketing PartnerKimkim's homepage footer links directly to its LinkedIn company page (linkedin.com/company/kimkim) as its primary social-media presence — used for corporate communications, recruiting, and brand presence.
• Bretzel Travel (Hugo Bailly, co-founder)regional partnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorA kimkim-listed local travel specialist in Austria — Hugo Bailly, described as 'Co-Founder and manager of Bretzel Travel' — designs authentic, tailor-made journeys through Germany and the region for kimkim travelers. Kimkim is the demand and tech platform; Bretzel Travel is the regional delivery partner.
• Basquelands Way Travel (Alfonso Nuñez)regional partnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReferenced in a customer review: 'Kimkim was absolutely amazing connecting us with BASQUELANDS WAY travel. Alfonso [Nuñez] was in touch with me to plan our trip weeks before our departure. He booked hotels, drivers, restaurants, entry to museums and local activities.' Basquelands Way is the local DMC that designs and delivers the itinerary; kimkim is the platform connecting the customer to the local partner.
• Local travel specialists (independent contractor network)core network of hundreds of local partnersChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKimkim's supply side is a handpicked, destination-based network of independent local travel specialists worldwide — e.g., Guðmundur Óli Pálmason (Iceland), Majid Mrabti (Morocco, Sahara), Kateryna Garkavenko, Olman Romero (Costa Rica), Bryan Leon, Leny Vergara (Japan), Aleksandra Shebaltseva, Elena Mora, Clemens Sengwein (Austria/Vienna), Kamilla SR. (Austria/Vienna), Hugo Bailly (Bretzel Travel/Germany), Tomaz Martinek (Slovenia), Samer Hajric (Sarajevo), Maro Mkhitaryan (Armenia/Georgia), Simeon Dimitrov (Bulgaria), Alfonso Nuñez (San Sebastian), Marina Courtaut (Madrid), Mieke Arendsen (Netherlands), Bas Naus (Nijmegen), Fleur Tuinte, Lisa van den Eerenbeemt, Laurent Fontaine (Croatia). The 'Become a local specialist' and 'Travel advisors' pages show the partner-recruitment motion.
• State of California Seller of Travel (registration)Others
• State of Florida Seller of Travel (registration)
• State of Washington Seller of Travel (registration)

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Exodus Adventure Travels: Exodus is an established adventure-travel tour operator offering guided small-group trips across 90+ countries. While it sells pre-packaged rather than fully custom itineraries, it competes for the same independent, experience-seeking traveler kimkim targets, particularly in the hiking, cultural, and wildlife-trip segments.
• Intrepid Travel: Intrepid is a leading global adventure-travel company offering small-group tours and tailor-made itineraries across 100+ countries. It competes directly with kimkim for the 'locally informed, sustainable, independent travel' customer, especially in the tailor-made (custom) trip segment which mirrors kimkim's core offering.
• TourRadar: TourRadar is an online marketplace for multi-day guided tours and adventure travel packages, aggregating itineraries from tour operators worldwide. It directly competes with kimkim in the multi-day travel-booking category, particularly in adventure and small-group segments, though it leans more toward packaged tours versus kimkim's custom-only model.
• TravelLocal: TravelLocal is a UK-based online travel agency that connects travelers directly with vetted local tour operators and DMCs in destinations worldwide. It is a very close direct peer to kimkim — same two-sided model, same 'support local economies' positioning, same custom multi-day itinerary focus, and a similar target customer segment.
• Evaneos: Evaneos is a Paris-based online travel agency that connects independent travelers with a global network of local travel agents to design custom multi-day itineraries. It is the closest direct competitor to kimkim in the 'local-specialist OTA' category, with overlapping business model, target customer (independent travelers seeking authentic, non-packaged trips), and marketplace take-rate economics.

Broad incumbents

• Booking.com (Booking Holdings): Booking.com is the world's largest online travel agency with a dominant position in accommodation booking and an expanding portfolio of attractions, airport transfers, and curated experiences. While its core is hotel booking rather than custom multi-day itineraries, its scale, brand, and increasingly broad 'trip-in-product' offering make it the principal broad incumbent competing for kimkim's travelers' planning attention.
• Expedia Group: Expedia Group operates a portfolio of online travel brands (Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Viator) covering accommodations, flights, packages, and activities. As a broad incumbent, it competes for kimkim's customer across the trip-planning funnel, particularly through its Viator activities marketplace and Expedia package offerings.
• Tripadvisor: Tripadvisor operates a massive travel review and planning platform, plus a booking business (Viator for experiences, TheFork for dining). It captures significant travel-planning mindshare that kimkim must compete against for organic search traffic and direct bookings, particularly for destination discovery and trip inspiration.
• Airbnb: Airbnb has expanded from accommodations into Airbnb Experiences and increasingly curated multi-day trip offerings. With massive brand recognition and a global host network, it competes for the same independent, experience-oriented traveler kimkim targets and can rapidly scale supply-side partnerships.

Emerging players

• Journy: Journy is a digital travel-planning service that pairs travelers with a personal travel designer to build custom itineraries. It is an emerging, partial-overlap peer to kimkim in the bespoke itinerary design space, though it positions more as a planning service than a full booking platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kimkim
• Xx.com/kimkimtravel
• Facebookfacebook.com/kimkimtravel

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about kimkim