Start-up closes financing round:
Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg and former Mercedes Motorsport boss Norbert Haug join circuit-booking.com
Over the past ten years, the digital platform circuit-booking.com has established itself as an international digital B2B marketplace for the exclusive booking of race tracks. A few months ago, the offering was expanded to include an online marketplace for track days and motorsport training. Following the entry of investor Michael Mücke in August 2020, Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg GmbH is now also participating in the start-up based in Munich and Hamburg via the Corona Recovery Fund. Norbert Haug will henceforth be supporting circuit-booking.com with his know-how.
"As race track experts, we are known throughout the industry and accordingly very well connected," says Sebastian Herke, founder and CEO of circuit-booking.com "We have been in a very constructive exchange with Norbert Haug for quite some time, and we are very pleased that he will now also be on hand to provide us with his expertise as a shareholder and help drive our growth course.”
With the entry of Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg GmbH, the current financing round of circuit-booking.com has also been completed, with which the motorsport start-up has raised a large investment for the expansion of its offerings. For example, the Trackday Marketplace, which was launched at the end of 2020, will for the first time offer deals for individual participants in track days and driving experiences. A significantly growing market that will continue to grow strongly as Covid 19 contact restrictions are loosened. The investment will be used to continuously expand the bookable offers and services on the marketplace. Already now, track day participants can compensate for the CO² emissions during the event by means of corresponding certificates - circuit-booking.com is therefore also resolutely pushing ahead with the implementation of sustainability objectives.
"We developed and introduced the Trackday Marketplace in the off-season and are now experiencing very high demand with a lot of positive feedback," says Herke. "With our investments, we will now continue to use this good momentum with great activity to acquire further track day providers and to make the marketplace even more customer-friendly and attractive by integrating cooperation partners. We are investing here both in customer growth and in the further development of our technology platform. To this end, we will also continue to expand our dedicated team in Hamburg".
Norbert Haug describes his motivation for his future involvement as follows: "I have known circuit-booking.com and Dr. Carsten Tilke just like Hermann Tilke for a long time and have followed the development of the start-up as well as the great personal commitment of the founders from close quarters. Together with co-investor Michael Mücke, I am already a member of the advisory board of a successful start-up. Circuit-booking.com digitises a business that was previously almost exclusively analogue and decentralised, and thus elegantly and efficiently solves several tasks at once. The start-up actively contributes to more safety at track days and, through the corresponding training there, also on the road. The awareness of the topic of sustainability and its implementation in motorsport and in road traffic is driven forward by circuit-booking.com and its positioning. Together with the two founders and the entire team, I will contribute with the aim of successfully shaping the future of circuit-booking.com. It will be very important to us that the fun of driving a car or racing a car starts with discipline and mastery of the vehicle and respect."
Former Mercedes Motorsport boss Norbert Haug |
About circuit-booking.com
Race track booking at the click of a mouse. Simple, transparent, digital. HTA Circuit Booking GmbH was founded in 2011 by motorsport experts Sebastian Herke (former Head of Formula BMW), Dr Carsten Tilke (Tilke Architects & Engineers) and Dirk Adorf (former works driver for BMW Motorsport). What has been the standard for hotel rooms or flights for more than a decade, Circuit Booking has since transferred to the worldwide marketing of race tracks. Thanks to the world's largest database in this field, 480 circuits in Europe, Asia or the USA can now be booked under the domain circuit-booking.com - including sought-after circuits such as the Nürburgring, Indianapolis Motorsport Speedway, Laguna Seca, Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi or the Shanghai International Circuit. Circuit Booking supports customers, such as car manufacturers, automobile clubs or event organisers, in all phases of the booking process for tracks that are required, for example, for vehicle tests, track days, incentives or training.
In addition to customer referrals, Circuit Booking offers race track operators comprehensive support with the world's only cloud-based track management software as well as customised white-label solutions - from resource management to event planning, invoicing and accounting to evaluations and statistics.
In order to make all marketing possibilities of a race track easier and thus more attractive for all sides in a changing market, the digital offer portfolio of Circuit Booking is regularly expanded with innovative content.
Press contact:
Dederichs Reinecke & Partner
André Schmidt
Schulterblatt 58
20357 Hamburg
Andre.schmidt@dr-p.de
0049-40209198223
