Articles tagged “funding”

This week travel startups announced more than $309 million in funding, as Mafengwo, Prowler.io, Instawork, Revenue Analytics, Dawex, and Outpost received investments.

Away has so far managed the tricky transition to brand extensions beyond suitcases. The established travel goods industry will be watching with envy if the startup can continue to pull off its empire-building.

Planning and booking complex international trips remains a pain point, and Tourlane, Skylark, and TravelLocal are part of a growing wave of companies attempting to provide savvier solutions for travelers. Plus: funding news for authentic souvenir aggregator Rare Planet, serviced apartments provider Mint House, and sustainable mobility tech provider TransitScreen.

Masabi enables cities, such as Denver and Sydney, to sell tickets on public transit via the mobile apps of travel companies like Uber. Meanwhile, Elenium disrupts airport self check-in, Pana pivots into corporate travel, and Sweetguest surfs the growth in management services for vacation rentals.

This week’s startup funding announcements reveal broader industry investment themes, such as the need for marketing tools for the owners of short-term rentals and for talent recruitment technology to help fill labor gaps in the tourism industry.

Honesty is the best policy. Even if it clashes with a nice FareHarbor bootstrapping story that seemed too good to be true.

Two event tech startups, Bizzabo and Gather, have raised millions in funding to help businesses and restaurants manage and grow events. The companies are benefiting from a 2019 Megatrend that Skift summarized as "real-world experiences gain value in an era of tech burnout."

Can you be both a marketplace and a supplier at the same time? Airbnb certainly seems interested in testing that theory out.

Aditi Balbir, founder and CEO of V Resorts, has impressed investors with her take on asset-light hospitality management in India, like an Oyo for resorts. In a distinctive touch, the company uses and markets goods and furnishings made by local crafts workers.

Dig Inn's founder and CEO is betting that well-prepared vegetables work just as well in a sit-down environment as they do for the office lunch crowds.