Just two weeks after it was reported TripActions had confidentially filed to go public next year, the Palo Alto, California-based business travel startup raised $304 million at a $9.2 billion valuation.

The round is comprised of $154 million in equity from new and existing financial investors and a $150 million structured capital transaction led by Coatue.

The business travel startup raised $275 million in a Series F round led by Greenoaks Capital last October at a $7.25 billion valuation. In May, Bloomberg reported the company was in negotiations to raise funding at a $9 billion valuation.

Coatue’s investment is from its $2 billion Tactical Solutions fund, which aims to provide late-stage startups alternatives to an equity raise, Reuters reported. Coatue’s investment does not convert into equity and has no covenants, the report added.

Late last month, Business Insider first reported the company had filed confidentially to go public and is aiming for a $12 billion valuation in Q2 of next year. The report also said Goldman Sachs has been hired to handle the listing.

That news came as the IPO market is going through its slowest period in years, with many tech startups shying away from  going public as others have seen their shares take significant haircuts since the beginning of the year.

Founded in 2015, TripActions has raised $1.8 billion, according to Crunchbase data. 

Good times, bad times

While the company now boasts a healthy valuation, times have not always been good for the startup. TripActions looked like it would become one of the first casualties of COVID-19 when the pandemic took hold in March 2020. With all travel stopped, the company saw its revenue drop to $0. CEO and co-founder Ariel Cohen openly talked about the problems, including laying off 300 people.

However, in June 2020, the company was able to secure $125 million in debt and doubled down on its newly launched expense reporting platform—a platform that became popular as many were working from home and had new expenses.

Big-named investors in TripActions include Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Akkadian Ventures, Zeev Ventures and Elad Gil.

Further reading:

TripActions Looks To Thaw Out IPO Pipeline