Ukio Raises $9 Million for Lodging in the Hybrid Work Era: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Travel Startup Funding This Week

Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding. Please email Travel Tech Reporter Justin Dawes at [email protected] if you have funding news.

This week, travel startups announced more than $195 million in funding.

>>Flyr Labs, which has only been selling business intelligence software to airlines for about a year, revealed it had closed a $150 million equity financing round.

WestCap Group led the round. Private equity giant Silver Lake also joined as a new investor.

WestCap is a growth equity firm founded by Laurence Tosi, the former chief financial officer at Airbnb and Blackstone. Wndr, a firm founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and the co-founder of Dreamworks, also invested. Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder and best-selling author of Zero to One, personally took a stake, leading the firm’s Series A round and participating in the rounds since. Read this week’s Skift story on Flyr.

>>Spotnana, a New York-based travel management company and travel technology startup, officially launched on Thursday and said it had closed a $34 million Series A funding round.

ICONIQ and Madrona Venture Group led the round.

The New York-based startup revealed on Thursday that business travel luminary Steve Singh is its executive chairman. Singh previously co-founded Concur. Read this week’s Skift story on Spotnana.

>>Ukio, which provides an alternative to the traditional housing market by offering a network of design-forward, turnkey apartments for monthly stays, said it had raised more than $9 million in seed funding.

Breega led the round in the Barcelona-based real estate technology startup. Heartcore and Partech also took part, as did angel investors including Avi Meir, founder of travel management company Travelperk.

Read Skift’s story on Ukio earlier this week: Former Airbnb Exec Pitches Remote Work as Reward Not a Right.

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. These fundraising rounds can assist 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.