Skift Take
Tech systems need upgrades to handle unprecedented growth in travel, and private equity firms are deploying billions to take part. In 2025, expect more consolidation as well-funded late-stage startups buy up smaller players, reshaping the industry’s behind-the-scenes infrastructure.
TravelPerk kicked off the year with some big news: The late-stage corporate travel tech startup raised $200 million and acquired another company.
Both developments were wrapped into a single announcement that exemplifies a major trend in travel tech right now: A surge in acquisitions by private-equity backed software companies.
Private equity firms have accumulated an estimated $3 trillion that they need to deploy, and roughly $300 billion of that is earmarked for tech, according to investment banks we spoke to. These private equity firms have been leading large fundraises for late-stage startups that are working to modernize behind-the-scenes software that powers the travel industry. And those startups are deploying that newly raised capital to grow their businesses organically and via acquisitions.
Investment bank AGC Partners says these PE-backed players are going on a “feeding frenzy” to acquire smaller co
