Skift Take

Long-promised improvements to airport security screening and rebooking in the event of flight disruption may finally be in the offing, thanks to follow-on rounds of fundings to the startups Clear and Freebird.

Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding. The total raised this week was more than $24 million.

Earlier this week we covered Freebird’s $5 million funding round, led by General Catalyst and Accomplice. The company, focusing on serving corporate travel with enterprise services, helps travelers rebook when their flights are disrupted.

clear funding skift travel startups

>>The biometric security company Clear has raised $15 million from T. Rowe Price’s New Horizon Fund. Clear says its traveler identity software is used in 21 of the largest airports in the U.S. and it expects to launch at Los Angeles International in the coming weeks.

The company will use the funding to add more locations and more technological functionalities, such as instant payments at retailers with just the tap of a finger.

The company started with a focus on airports but is now broadening its reach to other venues and payment points, such as stadiums.

Other investors include Delta Air Lines, Jeffery H. Boyd, chairman of the board of The Priceline Group, and Robert Mylod, the former CFO of The Priceline Group.

touristly

>>AirAsia Berhad ​is acquiring half of the equity of online travel planner Touristly, a trip-planner tool, through an asset injection and loan deal valued at $2.6 million (or 11.5 million Malaysian Ringgit).

AirAsia will stash its in-flight magazine into Touristly via AirAsia Investments Ltd and extend a convertible loan to Touristly for working capital and development.

Launched in June 2015, Touristly is an interactive trip planner that features more than 13,000 deals on tours, attractions, theme parks, and activities in 70 destinations around Asia Pacific.​ It is a recipient of investment funding from Netrove Ventures Group and Tune Labs.

dreamcheaper travel startup funding skift hotel rate

>>DreamCheaper, a Berlin-based travel company that helps consumers automatically rebook their hotel rooms if the rate drops, has received a $1.61 million (or 1.5 million euro) investment in a round led by Holtzbrinck Ventures and TruVenturo. The round brings its total financing to $2.7 million, to date.

The company offers its variation of a consumer service first pioneered by Yapta in the U.S. and that has been tried with mixed success by other companies, such as Tingo. DreamCheaper says it has helped rebook 5,000 hotel rooms for users so far since its launch in 2014.

Check out our previous startup funding roundups, here.

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Tags: Customs Border Patrol (CBP) Preclearance Program, funding, startups, vcroundup

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