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This Week in Travel Startup Funding: Cabify, Guidebook and More


Skift Take

Mobile guides for attractions and events allow discovery to happen faster before travelers even arrive at a place and that fundamentally impacts expectations about what they'll experience.

weekly_startup_funding

Each week we create a roundup of travel startups that have received or announced funding that week. The total amount raised this week was $14.9 million.
Here are three companies that announced they raised funding this week, listed in order by the highest amount raised. See previous roundups here.

>>Guidebook raised a $10 million Venture round from new investors MHS Capital and Mosaic Ventures and this is the Palo Alto, California-based startup's first funding round.

Guidebook helps brands publish mobile app guides for conferences, events, museums, attractions, etc. The guides let brands push real-time announcements to travelers, gives travelers' the option to make to-do lists of what they want to see or do before they arrive at an event or attraction and shows them interactive maps guiding them through an attraction or event space. Guidebook was founded in 2011 and so far has helped publish more than 25,000 mobile guides.

>>Cabify raised a $3.5 million Venture round from several existing investors including Brendan Wallace and Seaya Ventures bringing the Madrid, Spain-based startup's total funding to $18.5 million.

As the Spanish alternative to Uber, Cabify connects travelers with drivers using their own cars with private driver licenses via a mobile app. The company operates in four Spanish-speaking countries: Spain, Chile, Peru and Mexico.

Aside from serving leisure travelers, Cabify’s corporate account manager component lets multiple business travelers access a single account, book vehicles, make payments and utilize the service to arrange their own or someone else's transportation to the airport, hotel, trade fairs, events, etc.

>>Otelz raised a $1.4 million Series A round from several investors including new investor Elixir Capital Managment and existing investor Genco Alp bringing the Istanbul, Turkey-based startup's total funding to $2.8 million.

Founded in 2013, the accommodations booking site features 3,000 properties in Turkey ranging from small bed and breakfasts to luxury suites and has a staff of 50 people.

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