This Week in Travel Startup Funding: India’s Ola Brings Its Total Funding to $1.4 Billion

Each week we roundup the latest crop of travel startups that have received or announced funding that week. The total amount raised this week was nearly $1 billion.

Here are six companies that announced they raised funding this week, and you can see previous roundups here.

>>Ola raised a $500 million Series F round from new investors Baillie Gifford and Didi Kuaidi and existing investors DST Global, Falcon Edge Capital, SoftBank Telecom Corp and Tiger Global Management bringing the Bangalore, India-based startup’s total funding to more than $1.4 billion.

This latest investment officially pushes Ola’s total funding over the $1 billion milestone, after raising a $225 million round in September that brought its funding to about $900 million. Ola is also now one of the world’s top funded travel startups, surpassed in total funding by Uber, Airbnb and Chinese competitor Didi Kuaidi, for example, and is currently neck-and-neck with Lyft. Didi Kuaidi, which invested in Ola’s most recent round, also announced a partnership with the company in September.

The mobile app cab-booking company was founded in 2010 and this latest funding round positions the startup to have a $5 billion valuation. Ola has more than 350,000 cars across 102 cities in India and says it will use the investment to reach 200 cities by next year.

>>Joinup Taxi raised a $490 million angel round from new investors Big Sur Ventures, Cabiedes & Partners and Fides bringing the Barcelona, Spain-based startup’s total funding to just over $490 million after raising a smaller angel round in 2013.

Joinup Taxi is a mobile app for booking shared taxi rides in Spanish cities. The startup also has a partnership with Iberia to offer travelers discounted fares between airports and their destinations.

>>RootsRated raised a $2.5 million Series A round from an undisclosed investor bringing the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based startup’s total funding to nearly $3 million.

RootsRated connects travelers to outdoor experiences selected by local experts and offers reviews of various hiking and adventure activities throughout the U.S.

>>Hostmaker raised a $2 million seed round from new investors DN Captial, Avala Capital, DSG Consumer Partners, Mohit Srivastava and Nikita Fahrenholz and this is the London, U.K.-based startup’s first funding round.

Launched in July 2014, Hostmaker is a full-service hospitality management company giving Airbnb and other alternative accommodations hosts access to a team of housekeepers and concierges to help guests enjoy their stays. It’s currently operational in London, Barcelona and Rome and claims to serve about 5,000 guests every month.

>>Travelbeta raised a $2 million seed round from new investor Altheus Limited and this is the Lagos, Nigeria-based startup’s first funding round.

Travelbeta is a Nigerian online travel agency selling flights and hotels to more than 900 destinations and 300,000 hotels. The startup launched earlier this year and wants to tap into the 21 million Nigerians who traveled internationally during the past year.

>>AirGrub raised a $1.5 million angel round from two undisclosed investors and this is the San Francisco, California-based startup’s first funding round.

AirGrub is a mobile app letting travelers choose and then pay for food from restaurants that are nearest to them when flying. The app is live at San Francisco, New York’s JFK and Boston’s Logan International Airports.