Reiwa Raises $20 Million for Better Tour Packaging: Travel Startup Funding This Week
Photo Credit: The Akihabara district of Tokyo is famous for its electronics shops. Tokyo Convention Visitors Bureau
Skift Take
A fresh batch of travel startups has raised funding for concepts that include next-generation tour packages, vacation rentals at architectural gems, live streaming as a travel sales tool, and video-based travel agents.
Travel Startup Funding This Week
Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding. Please email Travel Tech Reporter Justin Dawes at [email protected] if you have funding news.This week, travel startups announced more than $26 million in funding.
>>Reiwa Travel, a Tokyo-based digital-first travel agency, has secured $20.3 million (2.25 billion yen) in seed funding.
JAFCO Group and ANRI led the round. Global Brain, Chiba Dojo Fund, Akatsuki, and a half-dozen angel investors also participated.
Founded in April, the agency is licensed to sell overseas travel and will aggregate inventory from wholesalers and package it up for sale via smartphones. The company's founder Takaya Shinozuka previously co-founded the accommodation booking site "Relux" in 2013, and sold it to KDDI in 2017.
Reiwa is a bit coy about its business model, reports The Bridge. But the startup wants to target the overseas tour package market purchased via smartphone. It aims to challenge legacy agencies such as JTB and HIS. But at its start, the brand will temporarily use messaging app Line's airline and hotel content.
>>Stayfol
