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

The Rail Europe acquisition, announced July 16, provides Omio with access to "22,000 travel agencies that distribute European rail content, many of which are in Asia," CEO Naren Shaam told Fortune. Those agencies currently sell predominantly European train tickets, but Omio intends to supply them with Asian rail content as well. "The same Chinese customer that goes to Europe also goes to Japan, goes to Southeast Asia, goes to India, goes to Thailand," Shaam said. Neither Omio nor Rail Europe has disclosed the financial terms of the deal. The acquisition was announced in a press release.

For Omio, the deal is not only about adding a legacy rail brand; it also gives the company an existing distribution network at a time when its Asia strategy depends on both supply and reach. In ground transportation, where ticket inventory can be fragmented across operators and markets, access to agencies and local partners can be as important as consumer-facing demand.

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

Shaam believes travel demand is spreading to "new corridors," a trend that benefits Omio since lesser-known destinations are often better served by rail and bus connections than by air travel. "There's a lot of tourism that's highly concentrated in the 'Golden Triangle': Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto," Shaam explained. "We can push customers to more regions. Hokkaido to Kyushu may be harder, but we don't want to just focus on the touristy corridors."

Visitor arrivals across Asia are forecast to reach 710 million this year, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association. The organization's data shows that visitor arrivals finally exceeded pre-COVID levels last year.

Omio's new funding comes from Granite-Integral, a joint venture between Singapore's Granite Asia and Tokyo-listed private equity firm Integral Corporation. Launched in 2025 with $100 million in committed capital to back technology companies entering Japan, Granite-Integral was introduced as a partnership aimed at supporting cross-border expansion.

"Japan and Southeast Asia represent some of the most important long-term opportunities in global travel, with growing demand for more connected journeys across the region," CK Choun, Granite-Integral's co-head, said in a statement on July 23. Omio confirmed the investment in a separate announcement.

Expanding into Asia can prove challenging for a Europe-based platform, given lengthy contract negotiations and a limited understanding of local market dynamics. "It takes three years to get a Japanese contract," Shaam said. "You need to put a lot of capital to work to get the inventory, get the systems up and running, and build scale—and then the economics take a very long time to work out. You really need to play the long game."

That is where Granite-Integral's value lies, Shaam said, less for the capital itself than for the strategic access it provides. "They can open a lot of doors," he said.

Omio, founded by Shaam in 2013 as GoEuro after a frustrating European rail-booking experience, has raised more than $600 million to date. The company operates in 47 markets, serving roughly one billion users annually and selling more than 130,000 tickets each day.

The Asian booking market is highly competitive, with platforms such as Trip.com, Klook, and Agoda offering access to hotels, flights, and experiences. Shaam, however, sees room for another player.

"Ninety percent of all travel companies focus on three things: Air, hotel, and car rental," Shaam said. "There are two spaces that aren't fully developed yet on a global platform: One is ground transit—anything that moves a person from one more person to another—and the second is activities."

Fellow travel startup Klook focuses on experiences, a segment Shaam considers underserved. "Nowadays, most people travel not because they want to stay at a hotel, but because of specific activities they want to do in a location," Klook CEO Ethan Lin recently told Fortune. "They may want to do a Hyrox in Seoul, watch a Taylor Swift concert in Singapore, or go on a road trip and visit the aquarium in Okinawa."

Looking at the broader landscape, Shaam sees substantial opportunity for Omio in the global travel market. "Global travel is accelerating. More people are coming into the middle class, more people have passports," he said. "When I grew up, going to ten countries was a gift. Now, people say things like 'I'm in country No. 70.'"

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.