Startups

Electric aviation got another vote of support from JetBlue Technology Ventures. The venture capital arm of its namesake airline is investing in a battery systems developer that could become a leader in powering the many electrified aircraft in development today.

This week's set of freshly funded travel startups hail from Japan, Denmark, India, Iceland, and elsewhere.

Intercity bus booking may not be glamorous, but there could be a lot of opportunity in helping the multi-billion-dollar sector go online.

This week, travel startups announced more than $115 million in funding. A few of the companies had very startup-y names such as Placemakr, TravelX, FutureStay, and Hoo.

Who needs telephones in hotel guest rooms? Hotels can instead have guests make and receive calls via their mobile apps. That's one of the outcomes made possible by this acquisition of the vendor Criton by Nonius.

What performs better financially than a hotel, on average? A hybrid model of lodging that mixes short-term and long-term stays, according to Placemakr. Is the startup genius? Or is it trying to do too much?

This deal is the second investment in two weeks in business intelligence for the short-term rental sector, coming after startup OTA Insight's purchase of Transparent. "Follow the data" is the new "follow the money."

Actor Kevin Costner's travel startup, HearHere, is looking to seize on the rise in road trips. In other news, we've rarely seen a travel startup raise so much capital within a year of launching as Selfbook has for its hotel payments software.

Here's yet another sign that alternative accommodations are becoming sophisticated businesses just like hotels.

Should operators of tours, activities, attractions, and experiences be raising their prices? Yes, says new data. What's more, this sector may sparkle the most among travel verticals in the industry's recovery.