Pioneering travel social network WAYN has ended 14 years as an independent company and sold to Lastminute.com Group.
Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
The platform claims to have 20 million members and will become part of the new owner's strategy to increase revenues through media models alongside its existing online travel agency business.
WAYN was created in 2002 and attracted the attention not only of investors but also the wider tech sector with its ambition to build a community based on travel experiences and planning.
Co-founders Jerome Touze, Pete Ward and Mike Lines have seen the concept of a travel social network evolve over the years since, not least with the rise of Facebook and countless other (mostly failed) travel planning startups.
But the WAYN business has also made changes along the way, including introducing a travel dating tool and various deals to integrate various search services such as flights (Kayak and Momondo) and hotels (Booking.com).
The company secured a Series A round of $11 million some four years after its inception from Scottish Equity Partners and a string of travel tech luminiaries in 2006, including Brent Hoberman (co-founder of the original Lastminute.com) and Howzat Media, a investment vehicle backed by David Soskin and Hugo Burge of Cheapflights.
WAYN began talking to Lastminute.com Group earlier this year and was in exclusivity status on negotiations since June.
The transfer process for the structure of the business to the new owner saw the founders wind up the shell company (Where Are You Now) a few weeks ago.
WAYN co-founder and CEO, Pete Ward, says:
"By combining WAYN’s unique capabilities and audience with those of the group, we are able to bring a market leading proposition and help advertisers tell integrated stories through bespoke and relevant content."
Lastminute.com Group recently launched The Travel People, a new division to help its existing as well as new industry partners and other advertisers reach its traveller customer-base through media services.
The groups claims to have around 43 million unique visitors every month across the portfolio of brands, including the flagship Lastminute.com, Rumbo, Volagratis, Bravofly and Jetcost.
WAYN's founders and team of around 20, based in the UK, Poland and South Africa, will all be transfering with the business to the new owner.
Chief audience architect at Lastminute.com Group, Marco Corradino, says:
"The WAYN team is a group of exceptional entrepreneurs who have created a vibrant community of travellers who enjoy sharing millions of travel opinions.
"Its business complements and expands our offering in Europe and, with its strong social travel network platform, it will become the content hub for our entire group."