In Startup Funding This Week, AirHelp Raises $12 Million to Help Passengers With Flight Disruptions

Each week we create a roundup of travel startups that have received or announced funding that week. The total amount raised this week among companies we tracked was $20.4 million.

Here are three companies that announced they raised funding this week. You can see previous roundups here.

>>AirHelp, a New York City-based startup, raised a $12 million Series A round from six new investors including Evan Williams, Galvanize Ventures and Jimmy Maymann and this The company is also backed by Y Combinator.

The company, founded in 2013, helps air passengers get compensation from airlines if their flight is delayed, canceled or overbooked. These include travelers who are unsure of their rights, lack the time or the expertise to start the compensation-claims process independently. Passengers can log in to AirHelp with their Gmail, TripIt, Outlook or Yahoo accounts and search for past eligible flights or manually enter their flight details. The company lets them know within seconds if they qualify for compensation and helps them file a claim if they do.

To date, the startup has helped more than 900,000 passengers get $85 million in flight disruption compensation. AirHelp states it is live in 19 countries, offers support in 13 languages and employs 230 people globally.

>>Travelyaari raised a $7 million Series B round from new investor Gujarat Venture Finance and existing investor Bennett Coleman and Co. bringing the Ahmedabad, India-based startup's total funding to $10 million. The company offers India bus, tour package and accommodation bookings, the latter mostly from Gurgaon, India-based OYO Rooms.

>>MI Airline raised a $1.4 million venture round from undisclosed investors and this brings the Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based startup's total funding to a little more than $3 million.

The company was founded in 2011 and is both an in-flight Wi-Fi provider and a software-as-a-service solution for airline crews' in-flight technology, including tablets and smartphones. It communicates relevant information about passengers and the flight at the right time to the cockpit, cabin crew and ground agent before, during and after the flight.

MI Airline also provides information to remote staff where normal company intranet services cannot be accessed and delivers real-time business information.