Startups tips

Just about everyone has heard of Airbnb. 

Five travel tech startups announced $62.1 million in funding this week.

>>Ukio, a Barcelona-based short-term rental platform focused on remote workers, has raised $28 million (€27 million) in a Series A round of funding.

Three startups working in travel tech announced nearly $17 million in funding this week.

Skift kept an eye through much of 2022 on which travel tech startups raised money, documented in this weekly startup funding roundup. 

There is a pilot shortage in the airline industry, but that’s no problem for Connect Airlines. 

Opinions vary widely about the state of investment in the travel tech startup world during this uncertain economic time, but one thing is for sure: it’s changing.

Before booking a trip with Celebrity Cruises, potential customers can now explore a virtual version of the experience — an offering that the company expects is the beginning of a long journey expanding operations in the metaverse. 

The investor mania for special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, in the past two years cooled mighty quick, with most travel companies going public through this process plummeting in value since their stock market debuts.

The hotel tech startup Mews has raised $185 million, a number high above typical venture capital fundraises in that industry. 

Skift has published hundreds of stories on funding for travel startups since our launch in 2012, featuring Airbnb and tours and activities provider GetYourGuide among other companies in some of those early articles. We took our coverage even further three years later with a weekly roundup of startups that had received or announced funding from investors.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 24. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Four travel tech startups raised $65.7 million this week. 

Vacasa Slashes 17 Percent of Workforce in Second Recent Round of Layoffs: It’s clear that Vacasa’s ranks were bloated, and that the company was not very well-run in recent years. Like several other now-struggling, newly public companies, Vacasa faces a challenging road ahead.

Expedia Group has announced the first group of tech companies taking part in its new Open World Accelerator program.

Three travel tech startups have raised $9.3 million in the past week.

Adam Goldstein, former co-founder of travel price comparison service Hipmunk, said this week that he is shutting down his latest travel tech startup and leaving the industry. 

Microsoft took over tech headlines last week when it said that its search engine, Bing, is being relaunched in partnership with generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.

In an effort to accelerate tech innovation in travel, Hotelbeds is putting out a call to startup founders with ideas that could solve problems in the industry. 

The Agrarian Hotel, a 50-room hotel on the central coast of California, late last year added a feature that allows guests to tip housekeepers and other staff digitally.

Two travel tech startups raised $31.6 million this week.