A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ONLINE TRAVEL
- TravelZen, a B2B online travel agency, raises $92M Series C round led by Addor Cena and Tech Sina. Link
- Hopper, a data analytics company for flights, raises $16M funding led by BDC Capital IT Venture Fund. Link
- Vacation rental SaaS provider TurnKey raises $10M funding to expand its vacation rental management service. Link
- Distribusion, a GDS for bus transport, raises $6.7M Series A round led by HR Ventures. Link
- Tiqets, a marketplace for attractions, raises $4M Series A round led by Capital mills. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
LEADER BOARD – ONLINE TRAVEL
Horizontal
Online Travel Agency
Expedia (1996, Bellevue, IPO, Acq.) – Online travel agency offering hotels, flights, car rentals, etc. Acquired by IAC in 2003. 11 acquisitions. Went public in 1999. Currently has a market cap of $16.7B.
Ctrip (1999, Shanghai, IPO) – Chinese Online travel agency offering booking for hotels, flights, car rentals etc. Acquired Suanya and Travelfusion in 2015 and ToursForFun in 2014. Went public in 2003. Currently has a market cap of $16B.
Auction
Priceline (1998, Norwalk, IPO) – Online travel agency offering booking and bidding for hotels, flights, car rentals, and more. Subsidiary of The Priceline Group. Went public in 1999 and has a current market cap of $66B.
Meta-search
Kayak (2004, Norwalk, IPO, Acq.) – Travel search engine – helps users find flights, hotels, rental cars and cruise lines. Acquired SideStep in 2007. Went IPO in 2012. Acquired by pricelinegroup.com for $1.8B in 2012.
Qunar (2005, Beijing, IPO, Acq.) – World’s largest Chinese-language travel search engine online travel information provider. Went public in 2013. Acquired by ctrip.com in 2015. Currently has a market cap of $5.5B.
Holiday Packages
TravelBird (2010, Amsterdam, $59M) – Enables booking of holiday packages to destinations around the world. Backed by Rocket internet.
Qulv (2012, Shenzhen, $20M) – Provides holiday packages to Chinese travelers who are traveling abroad. Backed by Yuantai Changqing Fund.
Travel Agents Marketplace
Tuniu (2006, Beijing, IPO) – Online travel booking website for Chinese travelers. Went public in 2014. Current market cap of $1.56B.
Accommodation
Hotels
Marketplaces
Hotel Urbano (2011, Rio de Janeiro, $135M) – Marketplace for hotels and travel packages focusing on Latin America. Backed by Insight Venture, The Priceline Group and Tiger Global Management.
Ostrovok (2010, Moscow, $51M) – Travel e-commerce company enabling consumers to find and book hotels online. Backed by General Catalyst, Accel, Atomico and others.
Marketplaces – Flash Sales
Secret Escapes (2010, London, $73M) – Online member’s club offering flash sales on luxury hotels. Acquired MyCityVenue and JustBook in 2014. Backed by Atlas, Index Ventures, Google and others.
Marketplaces – Last Minute
Hotel Tonight (2010, SF, $80M) – Marketplace for last minute hotel bookings. Acquired PrimaTable in 2012. Backed by Accel, First Round, U.S. Venture Partners, Founder Collective and others.
Meta-search
Room 77 (2010, Mountain View, $44M) – Online hotel search and booking platform. Backed by Felicis, General Catalyst, Expedia and others.
Asset Light Hotels
OYO Rooms (2013, Gurgaon, $126M) – Asset light Hotel chain for budget accommodations operating across India. Backed by Lightspeed Venture, DSG Consumer Partners, Sequoia and others.
Zo Rooms (2014, Delhi, $36M, Acq.) – Chain of asset-light standardized branded budget rooms in India. Acquired by OYO Rooms in February, 2016. Backed by Tiger Global, Orios Venture, Sol Primero.
Vacation Rentals
Marketplaces
Airbnb (2008, SF, $2.4B) – Vacation rental marketplace currently valued over $25B. Acquired Lapka, and Vamo in 2015. Backed by TPG Growth, Sequoia, Greylock Partners and others.
HomeAway (2004, Austin, IPO, Acq.) – Vacation rental marketplace. Has 20 acquisitions under its name.Went IPO in 2011. Acquired by Expedia in 2015 for $3.9B.
Meta-search
Tripping (2010, SF, $17M) – Metasearch platform for home rentals and homestay. Backed by Quest Venture, Draper Associates and others.
Listing Platforms
Couchsurfing (2004, SF, $23M) – A global community of 10 million people for vacation rental listings. Backed by Benchmark, General Catalyst, Lumia Capital and others.
Enablers
PillowHomes (2014, SF, $2.7M) – Property management services for vacation rentals. Backed by Peak Ventures, Home Brew, Expansion Venture Capital and others.
Transport
Flights
Private Jets
WheelsUp (2013, NYC, $115M) – Online travel company which offers private jet booking to guests based on membership. Backed by Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments, NEA.
JetSmarter (2012, Fort Lauderdale, $52M) – Online marketplace for online jet charter empty leg booking. Backed by Saudi Royal family and executives from Goldman Sachs and Twitter.
Marketplace
Onetwotrip (2011, London, $37M) – Online travel agency using a global network of IATA agencies for ticketing. Acquired dealangel.com in 2013. Backed by Phenomen Ventures, Atomico, Goldman Sachs.
Meta-search
Yapta (2007, Seattle, $24M) – Travel website and browser add-on that lets users track flight prices. Concur Technologies, First Round Capital, W Media Ventures, Amadeus and others.
Data Analytics
Hopper (2007, Montreal, $38M) – Provides data-driven research and analytics to help travelers determine when to fly. Backed by Brightspark Ventures, Atlas Venture, OMERS Ventures.
Farecast (1999, Seattle, $21M, Acq.) – Provides users with airfare predictions. Acquired by Microsoft in 2008. Backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, PAR Capital Management, Pinnacle Ventures, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group.
Train
SilverRailTech (2009, London, $69M) – Provides solutions that helps railways and travel distributors to connect with each other. Backed by GrandBanks Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Accel Partners, Brook Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Mithri.
Bus
Busbud (2011, Montreal, $10M) – Online and mobile app based marketplace that
connects travellers to bus operators. Backed by Real Ventures, iNovia Capital, White Star Capital and others.ClickBus (2013, Sao Paulo, $10M) – Online portal and mobile app for booking bus travels. Backed by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Rocket Careers, Tengelmann Ventures.
Tours & Activities
Discovery
Crowdit (2012, London, $3.6M) – Mobile application to develop places, events, deals and routes in cities. Backed by First Eastern Investment Group.
Marketplace
GetYourGuide (2009, Berlin, $95.5M) – Mobile and online marketplace for tours and activities. 2 acquisitions. Backed by Sunstone Capital, Highland Capital, Spark Capital and others.
Zozi (2007, SF, $51M) – Platform to discover and book activities and experiences around the world with expert guides. Backed by 500 Startups, Forerunner Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and others.
Travel Planning
Online Travel Guide
TripAdvisor (2000, Massachusetts, IPO, Acq.) – Online travel guide that offers user generated reviews on hotels, restaurants, attractions and other travel-related businesses. Acquired by IAC in 2004. Went public in 2011. 21 acquisitions. Currently has a market cap of $12B.
Social Trip Sharing
Trippiece (2011, Tokyo, $82M) – Japan based service that allows you to share your travel plans on the web. Backed by Samurai Incubate.
Travel Assistant
TripIt (2006, SF, $13M, Acq.) – Enables users to create a master travel itinerary and provide them with online and mobile access. Acquired by Concur for $120M in 2011.
Medical tourism
Medigo (2013, Berlin, $12M) – Curated marketplace for searching, booking and arranging medical travel. Backed by Atlantic Internet, Accel.
Enterprise
Enterprise – Horizontal
Sabre (1960, Southlake, IPO, Acq.) – Retails travel products and provides distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. Acquired by silverlake.com in 2006.Went public in 2014.Current market cap of $8B.
Enterprise – Hotels
Duetto (2012, SF, $63M) – Provides revenue management SaaS solutions to hotels and casinos. Backed by Accel, Battery, Benchmark and others.
Enterprise – Homestay
Leisurelink (2007, California, $38M, Acq.) – Provides horizontal SaaS for vacation rentals, resorts and independent hotels. Acquired by vacationroost.com in 2014.
Enterprise – Infotainment
MapmyIndia (1992, Delhi, $41M) – Provider of map data, GPS based navigation products and mobile apps. Backed by Nexus Venture, Qualcomm, Flipkart and others.
Leader board includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
For latest update visit Online Travel feed.