TRAVEL PODCASTING: Loquis doubles its revenues and audience and closes a significant capital increase
Loquis, the free innovative travel podcasting platform founded by Bruno Pellegrini, has successfully secured €3.78 million in funding, setting the stage for international expansion. P101 led the round, followed by Lazio Innova through the INNOVA Venture Fund of the Lazio Region, PiCampus, and CDP Venture Capital.
By combining audio stories with iconic locations, Loquis helps brands and destinations sharing their voice with travellers around the world.
Loquis, the first open and free travel podcast platform, closed 2023 doubling its audience and revenues. Bruno Pellegrini’s brainchild has become Italy’s go-to audio platform for both travellers and storytellers eager to weave tales of the territory. Additionally, at the end of last year, the Company closed a €3.78 million capital increase led by P101 SGR, a leading Italian Venture Capital player with a European focus. Through the fresh capital infusion, Loquis is poised to unleash its potential on a global scale.
We live in a society that rushes, gets distracted, and forgets. Loquis call to pause, listen, and uncover the hidden gems strewn across the world’s landscape. Through Loquis, every street corner, river bend, and mountain pass come alive with the authentic voices of those who cherish these stories and are eager to share them with the world. Loquis app challenges conventionality with a gentle revolution that is profoundly democratic and inclusive, driven by cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, and a deep respect for human connection. Loquis serves as a virtual treasure trove, where every contribution echoes the vibrant narratives of the places we hold dear. It is more than just a platform, it is a sprawling atlas teeming with stories waiting to be uncovered. Here, anyone can step up to the mic and share the tales of their origins, their journeys of migration, or the places they now call home. As these stories unfold, they paint a vivid tapestry of Italy, one that beckons us to venture beyond the well-trodden paths of mass tourism. Away from the selfie-stick wielding crowds, Loquis invites us to rediscover the essence of Italy in all its unexplored glory. For true travel is not just about ticking off destinations like items on a checklist, it is about immersing ourselves in the rich tapestry of every place, listening intently to its tales, and uncovering its hidden treasures, one story at a time.
In 2023, approximately 2 million tourists embraced this innovative formula and listened to the platform’s content a total of over 6 million times, resulting in a production value that doubled from €350,000 to €700,000 year on year. Loquis also partnered with dozens of the most prominent operators in the Italian travel and mobility sector, such as Slow Food, Autostrade per l’Italia, Anas, Trenitalia, Dove, PleinAir, along with hundreds of municipalities and tourism promotion entities that decided to present themselves by telling their stories in the simplest and most immediate format: the voice.
Entirely developed in-house, the Loquis platform harnesses cutting-edge technologies to bring to life their vision of becoming a global storytelling hub. This vision is encapsulated in the new tagline: “Loquis, a World of Stories”.
In light of the successful completion of the capital increase, Loquis can now rely on new funds to be deployed for further platform development and international business expansion.
P101 acted as the Lead Investor investing €2.2 million in Loquis through the Programma 103 and Azimut Eltif Venture Capital P103 funds, benefitting from the support of the European Union under the InvestEU Fund.
As part of the operation, Lazio Innova also joined Loquis’ capital through the INNOVA Venture fund of the Lazio Region, alongside PiCampus and CDP Venture Capital through the conversion of participatory financial instruments and previously signed agreements. Additionally, the capital increase was subscribed by several Business Angels who have been supporting Loquis since the early days, including Carlo Feltrinelli, using previously subscribed instruments.
Overall, the round closed with an increase in the company’s share capital of €3.78 million, of which €2.7 million flowed in from new investors and €1.1 million through the conversion of participatory financial instruments.
“Our goal – explains Bruno Pellegrini, CEO and founder of Loquis – is to weave the stories from every corner of the globe, establishing ourselves as an indispensable resource for travellers and industry professionals in the tourism and culture sectors. As pioneers in the travel podcasting segment, our numbers in the Italian market already surpass those of any other platform in the travel category, mainly owing to our specialization and utilization of geolocation technology. Thanks to the confidence shown by our new investors in the potential of our business model and our innovative use of AI, we are poised to embark on a journey of international expansion. This expansion will entail comprehensive global content coverage, reaching an estimated 3 million listeners within 24 months. We also plan to extend our reach to key European markets, opening a new office in Spain, and increasing our investments in research and development to continuously improve the user experience and performance of our platform”.
“The travel tech industry is experiencing a strong phase of expansion supported by the integration of artificial intelligence systems and the development of new B2B models. At P101, we have gained deep expertise in the sector, which we will leverage for the benefit of Loquis and its international growth, which can and should start right from Rome and Italy,” commented Andrea Di Camillo, Founder and Managing Partner of P101. “The company has great potential, and thanks to a highly skilled team, it is developing technology and content that will increasingly be of interest not only to consumers, but also to businesses. We are therefore excited to support Loquis’ new growth phase, marking our eighth investment through Programma 103 within its first twelve months of operation”.
In the operation, P101 and Loquis were assisted by BonelliErede and FavaLegal respectively, acting as legal advisors.
***
Loquis
Loquis is the first open and free travel podcast platform conceived by Bruno Pellegrini, a pioneer of digital innovation in Italy, which collects stories from around the world. Anyone can access it and start telling their story, contributing to the creation of an audio atlas (currently available in 7 languages) that enriches the travel experience and offers a new channel for the enhancement of the territory. The platform has been developed entirely in-house and seeks stories and meaningful journeys for a renewed dimension of travel, towards a completely screenless approach, using new technologies and developments in artificial intelligence in a humanistic manner.
P101 SGR
P101 SGR stands as a prominent venture capital fund manager in Italy, specializing in investments in innovative and technology-driven European companies. Established in 2013 by Andrea Di Camillo, the firm boasts a diverse investor base, including Azimut, CDP, European Investment Fund, Fondo Pensione BCC, Unicredit, Cassa Forense, and other institutional investors, along with significant contributions from major Italian entrepreneurial families. P101 SGR currently manages five funds, including the first retail investment vehicle for venture capital developed in collaboration with Azimut Group. With assets under management totalling 400 million euros, P101 has completed over 260 investments in more than 50 companies, generating approximately 1.7 billion euros in revenue in 2023 and employing over 5000 people. Throughout its 10+ years of operation, P101 has been instrumental in fostering the development of the Italian innovation ecosystem, supporting the growth and international expansion of companies such as Fatmap (Strava), Habyt, Milkman, MusixMatch, Tannico, Deporvillage, and Musement.