Skift Take
OnceThere has proven it can attract some investor attention but tours and activities is a sometimes-low margin business and it's next step is demonstrating it can link up with more booking sites in the U.S. and around the world.
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 $14.2 million.
Here are three companies that announced they raised funding this week. You can see previous roundups here.
>>Travel agent and tour operator technology provider TravelTek raised a $6.4 million venture round from new investor YFM Equity Partners and this is the Scotland-based company’s first round of funding. It offers an application program interface that connects travel agents and tour operators to a global database of leading travel suppliers.
The company’s product suite also includes dynamic packaging solutions, consumer-facing websites, booking platforms, back-end software, customer relationship management software and a platform that helps tour operators control pricing and distribute contracts.
>>OnceThere, an Austin, Texas-based startup with deep investor, management, and distribution ties to HomeAway, raised a $4.4 million venture round from undisclosed investors. This latest round brings the company’s total funding to about $5.5 million.
The company launched in May and sends travelers targeted emails a week before their travel if they booked through a vacation rental or hotel site. Emails contain tours and activities suggestions that HomeAway, for example, deems germane to a particular property and consumers can click on an experience and book it in real-time.
Besides HomeAway.com, OnceThere has signed-on sister site VRBO, TurnKey, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Charleston South Carolina Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Wild Dunes Resort, a Destination Hotel in South Carolina. OnceThere’s supply includes 83 tour operators and attractions that offer about 200 experiences.
>>Pay By Group raised a $3.4 million seed round from new investor Payment Ventures and existing investors 500 Startups, Amino Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital and Kima Ventures. This is the San Francisco-based company’s fourth funding round but its first three rounds were undisclosed. Pay By Group, founded in 2011, is a checkout option on travel and retail e-commerce sites that lets friends and families split the cost of hotels and flights.
The Daily Newsletter
Our daily coverage of the global travel industry. Written by editors and analysts from across Skift’s brands.
Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch
Photo credit: OnceThere, which sends travelers targeted emails about tours and activities if they booked through a vacation rental or hotel site, raised $4.4 million this week. OnceThere