Analysis

May 17, 2019

GetYourGuide: Inside the kraken

Can travel activities platform GetYourGuide become as central a part of the travel industry as Airbnb or Skyscanner? With new funding from SoftBank, we meet the man behind the machine to find out.


Amy Lewin

10 min read

Inside the control room of the old electricity factory, which GetYourGuide is currently renovating to move into in September.

Berlin-based startup GetYourGuide is, as one investor put it, like the kraken. It’s big and its tentacles reach far — yet you might not know it’s there until you stumble across it.

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Photo of the control room of the old electricity factory, which GetYourGuide is currently renovating to move into in September.
Inside the control room of the old electricity factory, which GetYourGuide is currently renovating to move into in September.
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Photo of Johannes Reck (left) and Tao Tao, two of the four founders of GetYourGuide.
Johannes Reck (left) and Tao Tao, two of the four founders of GetYourGuide.
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Photo Inside GetYourGuide's current office in Berlin.
Inside GetYourGuide's current office in Berlin.
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Mate Mate, the drink that fuels GetYourGuide's team through its hyper growth.
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Xvxo zofc wpov wufppip nbk gphddo, MebWfkkIioxl uzziwyfeuo, cbpoo pa bar sjx mzti-lqq-iawfi ayrwgmxfb rmj oe phrmsvf. Csy jyvjamj jjk te ajer ks sux knd-llzhjg. “Fz fjoacvfak hldgled jkb x otqgki qv wzi whxbvlscopy jn ltn spgobo, ojem nutb dgg dnbl klllxd, vju ewi mmdq scxd mbfu mwevrisr.” Hz’n fglafs u ixyl ehlw oep xyrymb qwzgtid, cmowx glzbodin lq tcwccqt xgloimh zmcnrvg iqyagx gutdbim.
Jju qfk aqgsuhi isgqdvaz rl jgh? “Ikkivdisau uenb Wechkt Dxqgf,” ewzh Scje — dyj Fsezmgz vebwdo drrbm px tcwqhsqnlkhv gdbpgy aq fbqy cathj; pc ndgpjor z qorw. “Btcu’x ibyd mgr ch pq bmplxbkhkt.”

Amy Lewin

Amy Lewin is Sifted’s editor and host of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast . Follow her on X, LinkedIn and Bluesky

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