Ayenda Raises $10 Million for Branded Budget Lodging: Travel Startup Funding This Week

This week, travel startups announced more than $24 million in funding.

>>Ayenda, which calls itself the largest asset-light, digital hotel chain in Latin America, closed a $10 million investment round.

500 Global led the round. Dalus Capital and the IDB Lab also took part.

Ayenda, which has an Oyo-like business model, has now raised a total of $20 million since its founding in 2018 in Colombia by Andrés Sarrazola and Christian Gómez. Past investors have included Softbank.

The startup operates through a franchise system in Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. Altogether, it runs 280 properties.

>>Troop, an award-winning meetings management platform, has announced an $8 million Series A funding round.

The lead investor is Steve Singh of Madrona Venture Group and formerly the CEO and co-founder of Concur.

Troop aims to make planning corporate meetings and events easier.

>>Transferz, a taxi scale-up, has received several million dollars in seed funding.

The Amsterdam-based company, founded last year, gives travelers the option of ordering a taxi to and from the airport when they book their journey via a partner travel agency.

>>Turismocity, has raised $6 million from a group of individual investors. The Argentine company provides online travel agency and metasearch services. It recently acquired FareCompare in the U.S. and Quanto Custa Viajar in Brazil.

>>Welcome, a city guide powered by friends, travel experts, and computers, announced it has raised a total of $4.2 million in seed and pre-seed funding

Accel led the round. Lakestar Ventures also participated. The startup is founded by a team that previously co-founded a mobile video editing platform, Cameo, that was acquired by Vimeo.

According to the company, “the user-friendly interface combines the utility of a map or location app with an immersive, social experience that allows users to see smart, custom suggestions alongside access to friends’ recommendations and lists and articles and reviews from trusted travel and lifestyle brands.”

>>TravClan, a business-to-business travel tech startup, has raised $2.2 million in a seed round.

TheVentures, a Korea- and Singapore-based venture capital firm, led the round. Leo Capital and angel investors also participated.

In the startup’s words, it is a “one-stop-shop for travel agents, offering them support in generating leads online, creating their own website, planning holiday packages and itineraries, and offering global hotel bookings as well as flight sales.”

Company	Stage	Lead	Raise
Ayenda	n/a	500 Global	$10,000,000
Troop	Series A	Steve Singh	$8,000,000
Transferz	Seed	n/a	n/a
Tourismocity	n/a	n/a	$6,000,000
Welcome	Seed	Accel	$4,200,000
TravClan	Seed	TheVentures	$2,200,000

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.