British luxury travel site Secret Escapes just raised $60 million from Google Ventures and others

Secret Escapes, a British travel deals website that bills itself as "the worst-kept secret in luxury travel," has raised $60 million in a new funding round led by Google Ventures.

The round, in which previous investors Index Ventures and Octopus Investments are also participants, will go towards funding the company's international expansion. We first saw the news over on TechCrunch.

Members-only site Secret Escapes launched back in 2011, and, according to International Business Times, has over 19 million members and has sold 2 million rooms. It offers flash sales on hotels and resorts, and claims to be able to save its members up to 70% of standard prices. Current offers on the website include a hotel in Cornwall, a castle in Wales, and a tour of Iceland.

This new funding round - its first since 2012 - will help Secret Escapes to expand into the US and Asia. (It already operates in 13 countries, the Telegraph reports.)

In a statement about the Series C round, CEO Alex Saint said: "The cash injection of $60m will enable Secret Escapes to continue making great strides to replicate the success of our UK business. We forecast to be a global multi-billion turnover business by the end of the decade."

There's no word on the company's valuation - we've reached out to Secret Escapes for comment.

Here's one of Secret Escapes' TV ads:

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