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This Week in Travel Startup Funding: Freebird, Travo and More


Skift Take

Just in time for the holidays, startups like Freebird and Travo show potential to get travelers out of tough spots and onto their final destinations.

weekly_startup_fundingEach week we roundup the latest crop of travel startups that have received or announced funding that week. The total amount raised this week was $12.7 million.

Here are five companies that announced they raised funding this week, listed in order by the highest amount raised. See previous roundups here.

>>OneTwoTrip raised a $4 million venture round from new investor Vostok New Ventures bringing the London, U.K.-based startup's total funding to $37 million. The startup enables travelers to compare and book flights offered by more than 800 carriers.

>>Freebird raised a $3.5 million seed round from new investors Accomplice, General Catalyst Partners and Slow Ventures and this is the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup's first funding round.

Founded earlier this year, Freebird helps travelers book a new flight if another flight is cancelled or delayed. It provides travelers with instant notifications in the event of a flight disruption, and offers the ability to rebook in fewer than 30 seconds with only three taps on their mobile devices.

>>Travo raised a $2.4 million seed round from several new investors including Dennis Phelps, Great Oaks Ventures, Baroda Ventures, Valence Ventures, TYLT Lab, Dan Shin, Seung Bak and Rob Sweeney and this is the Los Angeles, California-based startup's first funding round.

Travo is a reservation platform designed specifically for the self-managed business traveler. Utilizing the power of Big Data, Travo’s platform analyzes millions of flight, hotel and ground transportation combinations based on a traveler's needs and their business schedule, and was founded earlier this year in Los Angeles.

>>Ryde raised a $1.5 million seed round from an undisclosed new investor and this is the Singapore-based startup's first funding round. It is essentially a direct competitor to Uber in Singapore and offers special options such as female-only rides or the ability to request a female driver.

>>Nida Rooms raised a $1.3 million seed round from new investors East Pacific Capital Private Limited and True Capital Partners and this is the Jakarta, Indonesia-based startup's first funding round. The company is a hotel booking system for budget accommodations for properties located throughout several Southeast Asian countries.

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