European travel platform Omio raises $10 million and buys Rail Europe as it chases Asia’s tourism market 

Berlin-based travel platform Omio has agreed to acquire Rail Europe, a nearly century-old rail ticketing company, and separately landed a $10 million investment from Granite-Integral, an Asia-focused venture firm, as the startup expands into Asia.

The Rail Europe deal, announced July 16, gives Omio access to “22,000 travel agencies that distribute European rail content, many of which are in Asia,” CEO Naren Shaam explained to Fortune. Those agencies currently sell mostly European train tickets, but Omio plans to fill them with Asian rail content. “The same Chinese customer that goes to Europe also goes to Japan, goes to Southeast Asia, goes to India, goes to Thailand,” he said. (Neither Omio nor Rail Europe have disclosed the terms of the deal)

Omio expanded into Southeast Asia last year and into Japan earlier this year, following a pandemic-era retreat that delayed its global ambitions.

More broadly, Shaam thinks that travel is spreading to “new corridors.” That’s good for Omio, as lesser-known destinations are often served better by rail and bus connections instead of aviation. 

“There’s a lot of tourism........

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