5 Travel Startups Saved by Funding in a Nick of Time Just Before the Crisis
Photo Credit: Young tourist woman with baggage in international airport. Travel startups that raised funding right before the pandemic, such as Oaky, Cloudbeds, Ayenda, and Checkfront, have done well. Adobe
Skift Take
We checked in with a hotel startup, two providers of software to hotels, a business travel startup, and a software maker for the tours-and-activities sector to see how last-minute funding helped them survive the industry's nuclear winter.
The coronavirus pandemic slammed travel tech startups, forcing some to shut down or pivot. Yet some young companies had the happy luck of landing an investment before the crisis struck. These have ridden out the storm better than most. Other promising businesses retooled their operations or products to adapt to new conditions.
Skift checked in on a handful of venture capital-backed companies to see how they've been faring. We looked at companies that are still maturing and don't usually get the media spotlight.
"Given how many startups have up-front costs but haven't yet figured out the flywheel on recurring revenue, having secured funding before the pandemic definitely gave companies a leg up," said Jen O'Neal, a partner at JCJ Capital in San Francisco and an entrepreneur who co-founded Tripping.com after building startups from the ground up in the Bay Area, London, New Zealand, and Costa Rica.
The founders who Skift spoke to expressed humility, noting that the timing was pur
