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Online Travel

Travel Startup Money Is Flowing But the Road to an Exit Is More Distant

Dan Peltier

Photo Credit: Investors and and an analyst spoke about the state of travel startups at Skift Global Forum last month. Pictured (from left) are Mark Mahaney, managing director of RBC Capital Markets; Natasha Kuhlkin, managing director and portfolio manager at Dennison Associates; Bonny Simi, president of JetBlue Technology Ventures; Erik Blachford, venture partner at TCV, and Skift research director Luke Bujarski. Skift

Skift Take

Blockchain and China are both areas that investors find interesting, but blockchain requires a long-term view and China is really tough, especially domestically. Meanwhile, investors are pouring money into artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and are trying to sort out which travel startups working in these fields will make it to the finish line.

Is this an opportune time to be a travel startup? On the one hand, exits for startups that make the cut and even initial pubic offerings are a protracted endeavor, longer than in previous eras. But big companies that have made a habit out of swallowing smaller ones have plenty of cash to throw at ideas and teams that have the potential to spur disruption in the travel industry, according to a group of venture capitalists. Many big travel companies are opening their minds and doors to new technologies. Bonny Simi, president of JetBlue Technology Ventures, speaking during Skift Global Forum in New York City September 26, pointed to artificial intelligence and virtual reality as two areas that are att

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