Business spend management leader Coupa snaps up Yapta

Airfare and hotel prices monitored to generate savings when prices drop

Corporate travel price optimisation software specialist Yapta has been acquired by Coupa Software, the NASDAQ-listed business spend management firm.

Seattle-based Yapta’s real-time shopping service monitors airfare and hotel prices to generate savings for clients when prices drop.

It claims to have helped companies save an average of 2-4% of their corporate travel budgets, resulting in more than $350 million of savings to date.

Coupa said the acquisition “enables it to deliver more value by empowering companies to achieve greater savings in a significant spend category”.

Rob Bernshteyn, chairman and chief executive of Coupa, said: “Business travel, which accounts for more than $1 trillion of spend per year, is often one of the spend areas within a business with the least visibility and control.

“Yapta offers greater transparency into travel spend, helping businesses get the most value from their travel planning.

“I am excited to welcome the Yapta team to Coupa and look forward to furthering our joint mission of empowering businesses with the visibility and control they need to spend smarter.”

In 2019, Yapta was named for the third consecutive time to Deloitte’s list of 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America, as well as Inc Magazine’s list of fastest growing private companies in the US.

James Filsinger, chief executive of Yapta, said: “Yapta was founded on the concept of enabling travelers to get the most value and savings out of their travel plans, and we’re proud to have saved our corporate customers across the globe hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Joining the team at Coupa offered a logical next step for our company given Coupa’s strong focus on delivering value across Business Spend Management. As an integral part of the Coupa BSM Platform, Yapta will have greater reach and scale across Coupa’s growing customer base to deliver even greater value to businesses.”