Skift Take
Here's a bright ray of positivity in a gloomy time. Howzat is raising a big fund, and it plans to make roughly half of its investments in travel and transportation startups.
The pandemic is raising the hurdles for entrepreneurs launching travel startups. Yet that hasn't deterred venture capital firm Howzat Partners. The firm expects to raise up to $120 million (€100 million) for a new fund that will invest in travel startups and other digital businesses.
Howzat, based in Luxembourg, has been a prolific investor in young companies that are often not showing revenue yet. Half of its current 62 active portfolio companies are in travel (26 startups) and transportation (5 startups). Howzat has vied with Plug and Play, Global Founders Capital, Gobi Partners, 500 Startups, and Caixa Capital Risc as to be among the most prolific investors in travel technology globally, according to research firm CB Insights.
Howzat intends for its new fund to have a similar weighting in travel.
"Our view is this is a good time to raise a fund," said David Soskin, a partner and co-founder. "That's what you want to do as an investor. You want to be counter to general trends. A lot of investors are frightened of travel right now. They regard it as a bi
