About SideStep
SideStep is a company based in Santa Clara (United States) founded in 1999 was acquired by Kayak in December 2007. SideStep has raised $32.15 million across 5 funding rounds from investors including KAYAK, Norwest Venture Partners and Beyonce. SideStep has completed 1 acquisition, including TravelPost. SideStep operates in a competitive market with competitors including Skyscanner, Wego, Hipmunk, Aviasales and Momondo, among others.
- Headquarter Santa Clara, United States
- SectorsTravel & Hospitality
- Website sidestep.com
- Social LinkedIn
- Acquired by Kayak (Dec 2007)
- Legal Name Sidestep, Inc
Funding Insights of SideStep
SideStep has successfully raised a total of $32.15M across 5 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Angel Round of $150 thousand completed in June 2016. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $32.15M
- Total Rounds 5
- Last Round Angel Round β $150,000
- First Round $2.2M
(Dec 1999)
- Investors Count 6
All 5 funding rounds of SideStep with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2016 | $150,000 | Angel Round | β | Beyonce | β |
| Feb 2007 | $15M | Series C | β | Norwest Venture Partners | |
| Jan 2004 | $8M | Series B | β | β | |
| Oct 2000 | $6.8M | Series A | β | β | |
| Dec 1999 | $2.2M | Series A | β | β |
7 investors in total: 6 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in SideStep
SideStep has secured backing from 7 investors, including angel, venture fund, and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include KAYAK, Norwest Venture Partners and Beyonce.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture debt and equity financing is offered to US startups. | – | leaderventures.com | Palo Alto, United States | |
Venture capital and growth equity firm providing investments and resources to entrepreneurs in various sectors. | 1961 | nvp.com | Menlo Park, United States | |
Direct secondary investments are made in private company shares. | – | saintscapital.com | Denver, United States | |
Stage-agnostic investments in US ventures are made by Trident Capital. | – | tridentcap.com | Palo Alto, United States | |
Global financial advisory services are provided by the firm. | – | lehman.com | New York, United States | |
Numerous travel websites are scanned for flights, hotels, and deals. | 2004 | kayak.com | Norwalk, United States | |
B Beyonce | - | – | unknown_2a37f7d07bef4eeb8 | - |
Investor details for SideStep
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Investments & Acquisitions by SideStep
SideStep has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include TravelPost.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hotel reviews and travel discussions are offered online by TravelPost. | travelpost.com | Seattle, United States | 2004 | Oct 2006 | β’β’β’β’ |
Complete acquisition details for SideStep
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
- Acquired stakes
- Deal sources
- Complete history
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of SideStep
5 dated milestones of SideStep across 17 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded SideStep is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $2.2M.
- Acquisition Acquires TravelPost.
- Exit Acquired by Kayak.
- Funding Latest funding round, Angel Round, of $150K.
Competitors of SideStep
SideStep operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Skyscanner, Wego, Hipmunk, Aviasales and Momondo, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| skyscanner.co.in | 2003 | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | – | 749 | Operates an online meta-search platform for booking various travel services. | |
| wego.com | 2005 | Singapore | $46.5M | – | Online platform for discovering multiple categories of travel services | |
| hipmunk.com | 2010 | San Francisco, United States | $55.43M | – | Travel services are discovered and booked via a metasearch platform. | |
| aviasales.com | 2007 | Thailand | $43M | – | Travel services are meta-searched and booked via mobile app platform. | |
| momondo.com | 2006 | Copenhagen, Denmark | – | 63 | Travel services are compared through an online meta-search engine. | |
| liligo.com | 2006 | Paris, France | $3.81M | – | Online travel metasearch | |
| skiplagged.com | 2013 | New York, United States | – | 20 | Cheap flights and hotels are meta-searched globally. | |
| jetcost.com | 2006 | Clichy, France | – | – | Online meta-search engine for travel bookings |
Detailed competitors of SideStep
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of SideStep
Websites that share an audience with SideStep (sidestep.com).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with SideStep. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kayak.com | 100% | 35.8M | #1,115 | View details | |
| mobissimo.com | 100% | – | – | View details | |
| bookingbuddy.com | 100% | – | #145,305 | View details | |
| farecompare.com | 100% | 213.5K | #173,243 | View details | |
| travelocity.com | 100% | 5.1M | #10,410 | View details | |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
All 14 similar websites and full traffic analytics for SideStep
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 14 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Latest news on Sidestep
Complete news archive for SideStep
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Similar companies to SideStep
10 companies that operate in the same segment as SideStep (Online Travel), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Online bookings for flights, hotels, and travel packages are facilitated. | 2000 | Gurugram, Haryana, India | USD 39 M | USD 1.04 B | 5,120 | |
Online platform providing multiple travel booking services | 2007 | Gurugram, Haryana, India | USD 96.62 M | USD 130.88 M | 465 | |
Corporate travel and expense management are facilitated through SaaS platform. | 2015 | Palo Alto, California, United States | USD 1.58 B | USD 3.52 M | 847 | |
Spend management and accounts payable solutions are delivered to businesses. | 2019 | New York, New York, United States | USD 3.21 B | – | – | |
Business spends, payments, and rewards are streamlined by automated workflows. | 2011 | Hyderabad, Telangana, India | USD 13.75 M | USD 149.43 M | 431 | |
Multiple travel services are booked via an app-based platform. | 1999 | Miami, Florida, United States | USD 331.37 M | – | 4,543 | |
Multiple travel services are booked via an app-based platform. | 2012 | Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia | USD 1.02 B | – | – | |
SaaS-driven credit card and spend management solutions platform for businesses | 2017 | Draper, Utah, United States | USD 1.16 B | – | 1 | |
Bus tickets are booked online via portal and mobile app. | 2006 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 10 M | – | – | |
Outdoor tours and activities are booked via an app-based platform. | 2009 | Berlin, Berlin, Germany | USD 877.51 M | – | – |
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Frequently Asked Questions about SideStep
SideStep was founded in 1999.
SideStep is headquartered in Santa Clara, United States. It is registered at Santa Clara, California, United States.
SideStep is a funded company, having raised a total of $32.15M across 5 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $2.2M, raised on Dec 1999.
SideStep is a metasearch engine for travel which makes money through advertising and referral fees. It searches more than 200 websites looking for the best travel deals. SideStep has recently been aggressive in building up its offerings. They acquired TripUp (a social network focused on travel) and TravelPost.com (a hotel ratings site) with the goal of becoming the leader in online travel related information. In addition, they have launched two Facebook applications. The Trips Facebook application provides a trip planning service that currently has over 150,000 users. The Extended Info application allows users to add fields and categories of their own choice to a Facebook profile. SideStep is also developing a Facebook App for TripUp that should be launched later in the year.
SideStep has made 1 acquisition, including TravelPost.
SideStep has 7 investors. Key investors include KAYAK, Norwest Venture Partners, Beyonce, Leader Ventures, and Saints Capital.
SideStep operates through Sidestep, Inc.
Yes. SideStep was acquired by Kayak in December 2007.

