Duffel Raises $21.5 Million for Distribution Tech: Travel Startup Funding This Week

This week travel startups announced more than $32 million in funding. On Thursday Skift released its list of the top travel startups worldwide to watch in 2019. Here’s the latest funding news, below:

>>Duffel, a creator of a travel booking system, has raised $21.5 million in Series A funding.

Benchmark, Blossom Capital, and Index Ventures participated. The startup raised $4.7 million in seed funding last year.

Duffel, founded in 2017 and based in London, hasn’t launched its service to the public yet, so it remains hard to describe. It’s a graduate of the Y Combinator startup incubator program.

Archaic software and processes underpin the travel sector, said Steve Domin, co-founder and CEO of Duffel. “We are reinventing the underwiring between online agents and the providers — airlines, hotels, transport operators — in much the same way that the payments world is changing for merchants, because of tools like Adyen and Stripe.”

>>GuestReady Group, a short-term rental management company, has raised an additional $6 million in funding.

Impulse VC and Dubai-based VentureSouq co-led the round, which brought the startup’s total funds raised to nearly $10 million.

London-based GuestReady oversees more than 2,000 properties using its in-house property management software. The group has made a few acquisitions, including a recent one of BnbLord, an Airbnb-management company in France and Portugal.

>>Fairjungle, a corporate travel startup, has raised a $2 million (€1.8 million) funding round.

Thibaud Elzière, Eduardo Ronzano, Bertrand Mabille, and Whitestones Ventures participated.

The French startup aims to simplify flight and hotel booking for corporate travelers working at small and medium-size companies.

CEO and co-founder Saad Berrada gets inventory from Amadeus, Booking.com, Hotelbeds, Skyscanner, and Travelfusion. It charges a subscription fee, typically about $6.50 (€5) per monthly active user.

>>MagicStay, an apartment rental search site for business travelers looking for short and long stays, has raised $3.4 million (€3 million) in Series A funding

The startup has raised about $9 million (€8 million) since its launch in 2013.

“We want to sign a quarter of the major French companies and approach one million homes before the end of the year, thanks to the exclusive technologies we now have at our disposal,” said Valéry Linÿer, CEO and co-founder.

Check out Skift’s list of the top travel startups worldwide to watch in 2019.

Skift Cheat Sheet:
We define a startup as a company formed to test and build a repeatable and scalable business model. Few companies meet that definition. The rare ones that do often attract venture capital. Their funding rounds come in waves.

Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.

Series A financing is typically drawn from venture capitalists. The round aims to help a startup’s founders make sure that their product is something that customers truly want to buy.

Series B financing is mainly about venture capitalist firms helping a company grow faster, or scale up. These fundraising rounds can assist the startup in recruiting skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.

Series C financing is ordinarily about helping a company expand, such as through acquisitions. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.

Series D, E and beyond These mainly mature businesses and the funding round may help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors might participate.

Check out our previous startup funding roundups, here.