Sean O'Neill, Skift
Investors have bet on some innovative business models. AirPortr has hand-delivered about 100,000 bags from homes to airports, lifting a worry off the hands of Londoners as they pass through airport security. PaulCamper is an Airbnb for RVs. Meanwhile, SleepBox converts spare hotel rooms into video game halls and other social zones for college students.
7 days ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
This week travel startups announced more than $40 million in funding. Notably two of the companies, travel medical insurance seller SafetyWing and upselling tech firm HotelFlex, are graduates of the famed Y Combinator startup accelerator.
2 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Some religions take it on faith that their messiah will come, but they stoically accept that the arrival has been delayed indefinitely. Similarly, Despegar believes that the online travel revolution will sweep Latin America, but it accepts that the glorious moment has been delayed indefinitely. Consumer financing is its secret sauce to sustain itself while it waits.
2 weeks ago
Claire Ballentine, Bloomberg
Ever find yourself desperate to find a private black-sand beach but don't have time to aimlessly search in a rental car? Consider Sand.ee, a new website and soon-to-be app, the latest brand that wants to give consumers more control over their experiences. It's a good example that creation is the new consumption, as forecasted by our Skift 2019 Megatrend.
2 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Since 2016, Shiji has spent $141 million on acquisitions and investments across 10 tech companies outside of China, according to our review of its financial filings. Yet we still don't grasp the overseas strategy of the hospitality tech group.
2 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
This week travel startups announced approximately $95 million in funding. One standout was Socio, a company that offers software for managing events. Its funding highlights a broader trend of investment in the event tech sector.
3 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
This week a handful of companies announced more than $650 million in funding. Business models include intercity bus and train travel, Oyo-style franchising in China, and the mobile ordering of duty-free goods on airplanes.
4 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Many hotel groups are directing more of their ad budgets toward price-comparison search sites. That's a boon for vendors providing connectivity and automation services. But it's also a welcome, if still modest, injection for metasearch players like Trivago that have recently been struggling.
4 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Travelzoo's founder Ralph Bartel has seen the value of his investment in the public company go from north of a billion to less than $100 million over two decades. Could the chairman of the company be seeking an exit with a sale to a buyer in Asia?
4 weeks ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Medallia has pleased investors so far with the sales of its enterprise software for tracking customer feedback. But burnout on surveys is an industrywide problem, especially in travel. It remains an open question whether Medallia and its rival tech vendors can overcome the issue.
1 month ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Travel tech's "platformania" may be cooling off. One reason is fiercer competition, according to a new study.
1 month ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
In the past seven days, travel startups announced more than $216 million in funding. But the hot market deserves a warning that paraphrases Fleetwood Mac: Investors only love you when they're investing. Funding will come and it will go. When the rain washes you clean you'll know. You'll know.
1 month ago